Playgrounds of the Mind
by Leisa Chan
Summary: At the toughest boarding school in the world, new commer Kagome is going to discover that everybody has a secret agenda . . and nothing is as it seems.
1. Going West

Playgrounds of the Mind  
  
Chapter One: Going West  
  
[Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi]  
  
Mortimer H. Toutousai pulled into the side lot of the West residence and jumped out of his car, making his way briskly to the side court's entrance. Before he could even knock, Rita, the main housekeeper, swung the door open and cheerful greeted him. Grabbing his coat and hat and ushering him into the foyer, she made the usual inquiries about his health.  
  
"Fine, fine", he nodded, "and yourself, Rita?"  
  
"Oh as good as can be expected, what with watching over those two day in and day out!"  
  
Toutousai frowned. "Are they giving you trouble again? Or rather, should I ask if they are giving you even more trouble than usual?" She simply smiled. "I love those two as if they were my own, regardless, so I don't mind it so much". She straightened some items in the hall wardrobe and closed the door. "Got to get back to the kitchen. You go right into the study, they're already waiting for you". Toutousai smoothed his tie and beard and shifted his briefcase to his other hand. This was not going to be a pleasant meeting, he could already tell.  
  
"Master Inuyasha! You're going to be late if you don't hurry. Your brother is already waiting, and I think I just heard Counselor Toutousai pull up." Inuyasha gave Myouga a jaded stare and looked elsewhere. Myouga was the chief security guard at the West residence, and although there were plenty of things to see to, he seemed to constantly be bugging Inuyasha about being late, or not taking a greater interest in his father's property, or something else of equal ennui. At least he doesn't bother me about my schoolwork, Inuyasha mused. Then again, why would he? Inuyasha had long excelled in his studies and extracurricular activities. He had plenty of time to practice, as going home for the holidays had become increasing unpleasant ever since Sesshoumaru entered his angry adolescence stage. Actually, Inuyasha reflected, he had been born that way.  
  
"Master Inuyasha!" came Myouga's insistent plea. Inuyasha sighed dramatically and loosened his ponytail. He had been in the training room since dawn, practicing sword techniques and keeping in shape. Also, it was a great way to avoid everyone in the house.  
  
Walking down the long hallway, Inuyasha could hear the lawyer talking to Rita. I wonder what he needs us to do now", Inuyasha thought, as he turned into the study and plopped down on a dark leather couch. Sesshoumaru regarded his younger brother with a highly specialized air of contempt and went back to staring out the window. The younger teen glared daggers at the older, but the effect was lost.  
  
"Bastard", Inuyasha hissed under his breath to no one in particular. Myouga fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. Sesshoumaru, possessed with amazing hearing, started to advance but Toutousai chose that moment to walk in, and he dropped back gracefully into his chair. Inuyasha noted with some distaste that it was their father's favorite chair, right by the fireplace. Toutousai cleared his throat ceremoniously and opened his brief case.  
  
"As the executor of the West estate it is my job to inform you, your father's heirs, of procedures and the like. Now that Inuyasha has turned seventeen, I will read the last part of your father's last will and testament", he proclaimed, as he found the needed document. Inuyasha began to feel sick. He hated being reminded of his father. . his father and mother who died and left him with Sesshoumaru. He stretched his legs and arms unnecessarily, trying desperately to work out the forming kinks and cramps that bad memories brought.  
  
"To my oldest son, Sesshoumaru Damien West I bequeath Tenseiga, and to my youngest son, Inuyasha Alexander West I bequeath Tetsusaiga-"  
  
"What??" Sesshoumaru roared, jumping out of his seat and sending the armchair to the floor.  
  
"I said, 'to my oldest son-"  
  
"I heard you", Sesshoumaru snarled, turning roughly to retrieve the chair.  
  
Inuyasha was confused. As usual, it seemed he had no idea what was transpiring around him. He noticed with some curiosity that Myouga seemed gleeful.  
  
"What are those, anyway?" he inquired. Before Toutousai could speak, Myouga jumped in.  
  
"Ah, Master Inuyasha, it was just as I thought! Your great father left the Tetsusaiga to you!"  
  
"And that answers my question, how?"  
  
"The Tenseiga is your father's prized Porsche Boxster and the Tetsusaiga is his GTO 228 Ferrari", Toutousai supplied, while flipping through some more papers. Inuyasha could not help but laugh.  
  
"They're a bunch of cars? What's so special about that?" Inuyasha looked over to a fuming Sesshoumaru. "You could just buy one yourself."  
  
"Don't you understand the idea of sentimental value", his brother spat, "idiot brat."  
  
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes as barely concealed hatred contorted his features into a demon-like visage.  
  
"There is truth in that", Toutousai agreed, "your father always believed these two cars brought him luck in business and in life generally. He was a very wealthy man, but he considered these two vehicles to be the greatest of his possessions. He left them to you two as a sign of his love, and with the hope that they would bring each of you similar luck and happiness."  
  
"Yes, but gathering from the stories he told me, the Ferrari brought him the best luck. He treasured that one more," Sesshoumaru stated, traces of anger left in his voice. He turned to Inuyasha. "I bet you cannot even drive stick well enough to maneuver a machine like that", he said smugly.  
  
"I guess there's only one way to find out", Inuyasha responded, a slightly competitive gleam entering his eye. Myouga now began to panic slightly.  
  
"Oh no, now Master Inuyasha, there isn't any need for-" he was cut off as the two brothers rushed down to the garage level.  
  
"-violence", Myouga vainly finished. He cocked an eye at Toutousai. "You appear to be the bringer of misfortune upon this harmonious household." Toutousai merely nodded absently, as he snapped his briefcase shut and followed the boys out.  
  
Once he reached the bickering brothers, Toutousai fished for the keys in his pocket. He handed the Ferrari's keys to Inuyasha, and the Porsche's to Sesshoumaru.  
  
"Twice around the compound, no shortcuts."  
  
"Deal." Inuyasha slid himself into the cockpit-like interior of the car, immediately liking the way it felt to sit there.  
  
There really is some aura of power to this piece of metal, he thought, as he strapped his seatbelt in place. Sesshoumaru revved the engine and screeched to a halt outside the main gates. Inuyasha followed suit. When the two roadsters where evenly lined up,  
  
Sesshoumaru indicated to Toutousai to time them. The elderly lawyer walked over to the side and contemplated his watch for a few seconds. He raised his arm and let it fall sharply, and the boys were off. Myouga came running out, panting with fear.  
  
"What if there's an accident?"  
  
"Better now than on the road somewhere in a foreign city", Toutousai replied, "They need to get a feel for how the vehicles work. As I understand, they've been chauffeured to school on a daily basis, and neither has had that much practice at driving by themselves." Myouga nodded at this. After a few moments of silence, motors could be heard in the distance, and then the cars were upon them. The two men barely had time to jump aside as the speeding bullets passed, the V12 engines throbbing painfully in their inner ears.  
  
"We'd best stand back", Myouga said meekly, moving to stand behind a sculpted bush.  
  
Inside the Ferrari, Inuyasha was grinning widely. This was the first time in a while he could remember seeing Sesshoumaru so angry. It's really eating him up inside, he thought, snickering. Suddenly a scrap of paper blew across his windshield, momentarily distorting his vision, which was hard enough to keep at such high speeds. He yanked the steering wheel sharply, and managed to clip Sesshoumaru in the Porsche, who was only a few centimeters from his car. Sesshoumaru angrily retaliated, and Inuyasha found himself, dodging his brother's sideswipe.  
  
"Damn bastard", he growled through gritted teeth as he attempted to over take him. The bend in the road ahead allowed Inuyasha to take the lead at last. Realizing this, Sesshoumaru gunned his car and drove partly on the road, partly on the grass. Unfortunately for him, he forgot about the massive stone sculpture that sat in front of the pond, and was currently blocking his escape route. Not having enough leeway to get in front of his younger brother, he desperately pulled the car behind. The shock in momentum caused the car to begin fishtailing widely. Inuyasha noticed this and sped up to keep from getting knocked from behind. The Ferrari loosened some pebbles by the road and sent them under Sesshoumaru's tires, causing him to harshly apply the breaks. The Porsche careened off the road and scraped severely against the wrought- iron gates. Inuyasha noticed that his brother had stopped, and pulled over and parked, running back to see what was going on.  
  
As he arrived he noticed the driver's side window had shattered and Sesshoumaru was grimacing in pain. Inuyasha stood back as his brother pushed the door open and leaned on it, glowering with hatred and pain. He clutched his arm to his body, supporting his weight on the open door frame.  
  
"I think it's broken", he gasped, trying not to cry in front of his arrogant little brother who would only tease him and go on and on about it later. Inuyasha leaned back on his heels and crossed his arms somewhat triumphantly across his chest.  
  
"I guess that car won't bring you too much luck, eh Sesshoumaru?"  
  
Toutousai came running over, followed by a worried Rita and an almost in- shock Jaken, Sesshoumaru's personal servant.  
  
"Oh, Sesshoumaru sweetheart, where does it hurt?"  
  
"Master Sesshoumaru! I cannot believe this is happening!"  
  
"Now, now, don't struggle, the paramedics will get here shortly, just relax."  
  
"I'm not a baby, damn all of you!" Sesshoumaru cried out, frantically trying to free himself from their clutches. The adults led him away, as more maids and people from the house ran up, carrying first aid kits and other items. One maid, Inuyasha even noted, was carrying Sesshoumaru's security blanket from his youth. Sesshoumaru tried to lunge away from the coddling, without much progress.  
  
Inuyasha looked up and smiled. "It's the gift that keeps on giving." 


	2. The Advent of Kagome

Playgrounds of the Mind  
  
Chapter Two: The Advent of Kagome  
  
[Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi]  
  
Dedicated to my loyal anime buddy Baka-sama (isn't her name adorable? Just love that oxymoron)  
  
Kagome Higurashi shakily brushed her hair out one last time as the prepared herself mentally and physically for her first day at her new school. Picking up a bobby pin she reflected on how she got in.  
  
Aureate Winters Academy was the finest and the most difficult boarding school in the world, with a very exclusive student body. A prospective student had to pass a huge barrage of tests and writing exercises to get into the programs at the school. There were several, such as the Organic Chemistry track, Syntagmatic Cross-cultural studies track, Multi-variable Calculus, etc. The school was five years long, with the last year being a highly intensive study to prepare the seniors for college. It had the best facilities, the wealthiest alumni, and best of all the school offered a study abroad option for each semester.  
  
Kagome sighed happily, Imagine spending every semester in a foreign city. She then frowned, growing nervous again. Usually only prospective freshman were allowed entry; the school board did not like students coming in from other high schools at different grade levels. But Kagome had worked extra hard, and due to the fact that her grandfather was old friends with the headmaster; he was able to convince the board to review Kagome's application. She still could not believe she had gotten in.  
  
It was not going to be easy at all to stay at the top of the class, Kagome cogitated. In her last school, she was the first in her class, but who knew the stiff competition she faced at Aureate Winters. She just hoped she would not end up disgracing herself and disappointing her family.  
  
Her younger brother Souta was too young to apply, and was in a very good elementary school back home. She would miss him terribly; they had never been separated for so long. Kagome straightened her shoulders and stared at herself in the mirror.  
  
"Three months isn't so long", she murmured, smoothing down her skirt. Aureate Winters allowed a free dress day on Fridays only-every other day of the week there was a required uniform, but since Kagome had not yet received hers, she had chosen what she hoped was a sophisticated and serious looking navy blue silk suit. Applying some light perfume and attaching small gold earrings, Kagome snatched up her messenger bag and headed down stairs. Her family was sending her off with a nice farewell breakfast.  
  
Half an hour later, she stood by the door, receiving hugs from her mom, grandpa and Souta.  
  
"I'm going to miss you guys so much!" she wailed slightly.  
  
"We'll miss you too, sweetie. You make sure to call the minute the plane lands."  
  
"I will, mom. Bye grandpa, Souta. You too, Buyo", Kagome giggled, scratching the family cat behind his ears one last time. Her family walked out with her to the curb, anticipating the arriving taxi. With a slightly sorrowful look, Kagome picked up her luggage and slid into the backseat.  
  
"Manhattan, here I come".  
  
It was a bright late summer day in South Hampton. There was a slight depressive air to the neighborhoods, as kids of all ages alike realized summer vacation had once again come to a close, and the school year was looming large.  
  
Inuyasha sat on a sand dune, watching the calm waves lap against the shore. Soon, too soon, he would be stuffed in the backseat of a limo with Sesshoumaru heading back to the Upper East Side, back to the Manhattan campus Aureate Winters Academy had chosen for this semester.  
  
Way too close to home, Inuyasha thought. I'll be expected to come home more often, which means I'll be stuck with Sesshoumaru all the more. Why can't he go someplace else? The teen scrunched his toes into the colder sand beneath the upper layer where the sun had warmed it. Of course he can't go someplace else; neither can I. Only the best for a West, isn't that what Father and Mother always said.  
  
Mother. . Tears threatened to fall as Inuyasha angrily shook his head. Why am I thinking of her? It was so long ago. Dusting himself off, he grabbed his things and headed over to where he left the car. Every time he saw it, it brought a renewed smile to his lips. Sesshoumaru had suffered the entire summer in a cast, meaning he could not play his beloved polo with his jerk friends from the club. The cast had just come off yesterday, and Sesshoumaru had spent the remaining days of vacation catching up on his rugby and polo matches. He had not lost any form at all. Figures, Inuyasha thought bitterly, he always was the best at everything-well maybe not everything. The teen stared at the rearing horse emblazed in metal on the steering wheel.  
  
"There'll always be something you can't have, brother", Inuyasha contemplated, running his fingers over the Ferrari logo. "It's a great gift you left me, dad".  
  
Leaving the airport, Kagome stared at the scenery rushing by. She re- crossed her legs for the twentieth time and started rapping her knuckles lightly against the windowpane. When are we going to get there, she wondered. She thought of calling her mom again, to pass the time, but figured she had left the house already. No need to act like a kid going to sleep-away camp for the first time, she mentally scolded. You're not so easy to scare. This is just school, she berated. Remember, school? The only thing you've ever worked so hard for, all your life? Kagome sat up authoratively and folded her hands in her lap. She felt better, until the car entered the city.  
  
"Wow", she trailed off. There were so many distractions. Would she be able to handle this place?  
  
After what seemed like an eternity, Inuyasha jumped out of the limo and shrugged his jacket off; it had been chaffing his collar from the moment he put it on. Not any different from last year. Sesshoumaru was directing some school officials to carry his luggage. Inuyasha followed suit, giving an attendant his room number and pointing out his suitcases.  
  
"Inuyasha!"  
  
The said individual turned around, letting his eyes fall across the freshly manicured campus greenery. He spotted someone running up to him. The jingling of many arm bracelets gave away his identity immediately.  
  
"Miroku! How've you been?" Inuyasha regarded his fellow classmate, taking in his appearance. "Hey you cut your hair."  
  
"Yep", Miroku turned his head, pulling at his short dragon-tail. "My mom finally cornered me one day and forced me to go to the hair studio. "It's not that bad is it", he suddenly asked.  
  
"Nah, it's fine. Just a surprise." Inuyasha found it amusing how much Miroku cared about his looks. "Why", he drawled, "are you hoping Sango likes it?"  
  
"Funny, man, very funny." The other boy narrowed his eyes. He immediately brightened, "Is she here yet?" Inuyasha was about to answer when a Lincoln Town car pulled up next to the two young men. Sango popped out and waved wildly. In her haste to free herself from the confines of the car she almost fell out onto the driveway. Inuyasha laughed to himself.  
  
"Hey guys!" she shrieked as she approached the duo. "What's up?"  
  
"Sango!" Miroku shouted, attempting to clap a hand on her shoulder. She quickly sidestepped his efforts. "What?" he questioned, a small hurt looking flashing across his features.  
  
"Miroku, keep your hands where I can see them!"  
  
"But I was merely going to give you a friendly pat."  
  
"Oh really? Where, exactly?" She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest.  
  
"Your shoulder, of course", he said in what he hoped was a charming manner.  
  
"Mm hmm", Sango nodded, a slight grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. Meanwhile, Inuyasha had taken a pad of paper out of his breast pocket, and was scribbling something down.  
  
"What's that?" Sango inquired.  
  
"First official groping attempt of the year", he responded, drawing some more lines with his monogrammed pen.  
  
"Hey", Miroku protested.  
  
"See, there's a column for successful gropes and attempts. I think I'll rank a success a ten, and an attempt a five. Anything in between will be up to my discretion." The younger West brother closed the little book and tucked it safely away.  
  
"Did you hear that Miroku?" Sango demanded. "That score better be damn low this year, or you'll be losing some appendages!" Miroku grimaced visibly.  
  
"So anything interesting happen this summer?" Inuyasha asked, scrapping the sole of his left shoe along the curb, hands buried in his pockets.  
  
"As a matter of fact, my mother who's on the board of trustees did mention a new student this year", Miroku replied, pressing the dimple in his chin with an index finger/  
  
"So? There are new freshman every year", Inuyasha scoffed.  
  
"Oh, this student isn't a freshman." Both Inuyasha and Sango looked up at this.  
  
"Not a freshman?" Sango queried, coming to stand face to face with Miroku.  
  
"Yep. She's a transfer. Don't see too many of those around here."  
  
"Wow, she must be a real brain. What do you think Inuyasha", Sango turned to regard her friend. But Inuyasha was staring past Miroku's head, at a taxi that had just pulled up.  
  
  
  
All right, third installment is on the way. Anyone have any comments or critiques for me? Reviews are appreciated. Lastly, I hope the spacing came out all right. If not, please be patient, I'll figure it out. -Leisachan 


	3. Greetings and Salutations

Playgrounds of the Mind  
  
Chapter Three: Greetings and Salutations  
  
[Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi]  
  
Author's note: A big thank you to all my wonderful reviewers. ^_^ Please let me know of any other comments you may have.  
  
Kagome looked up at the large gates of the school. There was an inscription she noticed, she cocked her head, straining to see what was written.  
  
Aureate Winters Academy Established 1871 Down the Well  
  
"Down the Well?" Kagome knitted her eyebrows in slight confusion. What was that all about? This school just kept getting stranger and stranger. The taxi came to a halt some ten meters from the front entrance, whose doors were wide open as returning students and freshmen alike glided in and out of the building, hauling luggage or showing their parents their new dorm assignments. Kagome sighed. She already missed her family and it had not even been a week! How am I going to survive, Kagome internally wailed.  
  
"That'll be $76.50, miss." Kagome jarred back to reality. She searched her purse for the necessary bills and tipped the cabbie generously. He unloaded her baggage and with a small wave, drove around the cul de sac and merged into the busy streets at the end of the perfect lawn. Kagome felt so abandoned and lost right at that moment.  
  
"Are these yours?" She turned around and noticed a young man pointing to her things. He was holding a clipboard and had a pencil behind his ear, another in his breast pocket, and yet another in his hand.  
  
"Um yes," Kagome nodded.  
  
"Great, I'll have some one take care of it! Now your name please?"  
  
"Kagome Higurashi."  
  
"Ah yes!" his eyes shone with some interest. "If you'll kindly follow me, I'll take you to your orientation group." Kagome walked across the lawn, giving her baggage one last look as if worried she would never see it again.  
  
"Alright, the boy said," scanning the clipboard, "we're all here. Let's get started, first some introductions. Let's begin with you, he indicated Kagome, who was standing at the edge of the small assembly, not more than twelve people. She repeated her name again. The naming procession went around in a circle.  
  
"Hey everyone, I'm Shippou Edward Fox," said a cute looking redhead. He grinned at everyone, seeming at ease in the new surroundings.  
  
"I'm Rin Sarah Jerome. Um, most people call me Rin", stated a shy young girl, nervously pulling at strands of her well-shaped black bob. At least I'm not the only one who's nervous, Kagome thought with some relief.  
  
"Hi. My name's Kanna Helena, I'm Kagura's sister if anyone knows her", a pretty, pale haired girl said, seeming to sigh as she did so. After her introduction she fell back to staring out into space.  
  
The names continued, and Kagome lost track after a while, her thoughts in constant turmoil, she could not keep her attention focused on the group leader or any important information he could be dispelling. Concentrate Kagome, she mentally berated.  
  
"Alright, fantastic people! Now I'm going to give you all a tour of the campus and some little historical tidbits along the way." He grinned, indicating the group to follow. He walked at a brisk pace, his tie and jacket blowing all over the place as he widely waved his arms and pointed to different things. As they walked toward the inner part of the driveway, the orator stopped and waited for everyone to catch up. He smiled in apology. Suddenly, a black-haired boy with tons of bracelets clinking, walked over and slung an arm over the guide's shoulders.  
  
"And here we have the best looking people on campus, not to mention the most in-demand dates", he stated in a jovial manner. The boy indicated himself, followed by a slender, tall girl with a long, high ponytail at the crown of her head, and lastly to a tall, lanky boy, with stunning golden eyes and take-your-breath-away waist=length pale platinum hair, almost white looking in the bright sunlight. The guide laughed and playfully shoved the boy standing next to him.  
  
"Guys, this is Miroku David Monk, our school's resident pervert."  
  
"Hey!" Miroku complained. The girl doubled over in laughter and the other boy simply snorted and nodded sagely.  
  
"Watch out for this one, girls! And this is Sango Miranda Davis, our school's honorable exterminator." He laughed and gave Sango the thumbs up sign. "She can explain it to you later, if she has time, but it's a funny story, try to find out from an upperclassman if you can." He walked over and made a show of presenting the other boy. "This is the famous Inuyasha Alexander West, the "half-demon" of Aureate Winters. Soon to be full- demon, once his brother graduates.  
  
"Finally", Inuyasha grumbled and looked cross. "I hate being called that!"  
  
"Another great story you'll find out about in due course", the guide informed them. Wow, this school has a lot of weird inside jokes, Kagome mused. "Now if you'll follow me again-"  
  
"Hey, Ken, why don't you let the transfer student come with us? Your tour will be pretty boring if she's stuck with a bunch of freshmen." He motioned to Sango and Inuyasha. "We could take her around before first assembly."  
  
"Well, it's not really the school's policy, but . . " he trailed off looking towards Kagome. "You can if you want to." He smiled warmly, "you know, three guides will probably be better than sharing one."  
  
"Uh, sure. Thanks," she replied, somewhat guardedly. She waved to the rest of the group and joined the trio. "Thanks for volunteering to show me around," she said, unsure of what to do next. Miroku grinned.  
  
"No problem. So, as you know I'm Miroku, and this is Inuyasha and Sango. So, let's show her the real tour, shall we?" He grabbed Kagome by her wrist and started jogging. "We've got lots to see, so lets go!"  
  
"Does it seem to you that Miroku acts more and more like a little kid with each passing year?" Kagome overheard Sango ask Inuyasha.  
  
"Definitely", he replied. "And stupider, too." The two comrades ran to catch up to their juvenile friend. Miroku pointed to a building in the gothic revival style.  
  
"This is the Science Building."  
  
"That's the literature building, idiot." Miroku looked at Inuyasha. "It is? Huh. Looks different from when I remember."  
  
"What could you remember? I don't think you paid attention at all at the end of last year when Ms. Kendall showed us an interactive tour of this campus." Sango chided.  
  
"Well fine, Sango, since you've paid attention to every boring little insignificant detail that vertiginous woman spewed out all year, you can be the tour guide!"  
  
"Alright, I will." She walked over and linked her arm with Kagome's. "Don't mind him", she jerked her head back to where Miroku was walking with Inuyasha, "he's sort of a clown. Well, as much of a clown as you can get away with being at this school."  
  
"Um, yeah, about that", Kagome piped up. "Just how hard is it? I mean, are the teachers overbearing? And is the workload fatal if you get behind? I tend to catch a cold every winter, and-"  
  
"Don't worry! Kagome, if you got in, you'll do fine!" Sango gave her new acquaintance's arm a reassuring squeeze. Kagome smiled appreciatively. "Besides, we have lots of group study sessions, and brainstorming sessions. We help each other out here."  
  
"Sango, will you help me study??" Miroku yelled from behind. She snorted and threw one of her scrunchies at him.  
  
"Woo hoo! Now I can add this one to my collection", he yelled triumphantly. Sango rolled her eyes. "The guy's such a dope," she mumbled. Kagome lifted an eyebrow and appraised Sango's words. She smiled to herself. I'll bet she doesn't really think so, Kagome reflected. Most people who acted the way Sango and Miroku did were really destined for each other. Or maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic, she sighed.  
  
"Okay, let me show you the girl's dorm next." Miroku's face brightened at that. Sango glared. "Not you!"  
  
"Excuse me? Guys are allowed in the hallways of the girl's dorm", he retorted.  
  
"Yeah, well-heeled young gentlemen, not perverts like you", Sango taunted. Miroku made a show of pretending to look offended. Inuyasha shoved him into a hydrangea bush. Miroku crawled out covered in blossoms. "Inuyasha, you may accompany us", Sango called.  
  
"It's alright, I think I'll stop and get breakfast." He nodded towards Kagome. "Nice meeting you. Hope I'll see you later. He took off, with Miroku tagging along.  
  
"This way", Sango nudged. Kagome looked back at Inuyasha's retreating form, a pensive look on her face.  
  
The famous 'half-demon', eh? She made a mental note to ask Sango about it once they were inside the dormitory.  
  
  
  
Sorry it's a bit short. Not much time this morning, but I thought I'd get something out there. Please review! Our friends Kouga, Yura, Hiten, Manten, Kagura, Naraku and Sesshoumaru are on the way. 


	4. Legends and Legacies

Playgrounds of the Mind  
  
Chapter Four: Legends and Legacies  
  
[Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi]  
  
Author's Note: A big shout out to my reviewers: Baka-Sama, Pyrotechnics, regina, tenshineko, Lady-Ravenclaw, sorena27, and Sailor Silver Moon. Thanks so much! ^_^  
  
SPECIAL: I have a contest for you (it isn't that exciting, but) if you think you know what "Aureate Winters" refers to, let me know in a review.  
  
Sango led Kagome through the large, double oak doors of the girl's dormitory, stopping at a list posted on the far right wall. Kagome looked around, impressed by the common room. It was spacious and airy, and was littered with large, comfy looking white chaises and matching couches. Dark teak wood lamps and end tables accompanied the furniture, a sharp contrast against the pale walls and thick white and gold rug on the floor. She was tempted to take off her shoes and run her feet over the plush carpeting. Live trees lined the floor-to-ceiling windows, which obviously needed a lot of upkeep. Sango was searching the list when she cried out.  
  
"ah ha! Your room is only two away from mine, Kagome!" she squealed happily.  
  
"Oh, wow, that's awesome", Kagome agreed, glad to be near a friend, or rather, someone she knew. Sango grabbed her arm again and practically carried her up the first floor landing, running through the halls shouting jubilantly. She came to a stop outside room 104.  
  
"This is yours. Go check if your bags are inside, they usually distribute keys at the end of moving in period." Kagome opened the door and took everything in. The room was every bit as nice as the foyer downstairs, with plush carpeting, perfectly matching wallpaper, and a large, cushioned bay window. That's going to be a great place to read, Kagome mused. She then inspected her bags, lying in one corner.  
  
"Everything seems to be in order", she barely got out before Sango grabbed her again.  
  
"Great! Now come see mine!" Sango pulled her new comrade into room 101 and shut the door. Sango's room was similar, but with a slightly different color scheme. The room's inhabitant bent down and started ruffling though some luggage.  
  
"Have a seat, Kagome. I'm just going to put up some posters and stuff." Kagome timidly sat down on the edge of the un-sheeted bed, afraid to touch all the expensive furniture. Sango pulled out a poster and some thumbtacks and went to work, cocking her head to the side, determining the best place for the particular poster. "So do you have any questions?"  
  
"Oh, yeah", Kagome started, trying to figure out where to start. "Um, so tell me about your friends."  
  
"Well, you saw them", the other girl laughed, "A bunch of guys who drive me mad most of the time. I'm not really friends with any of the girls here . . . don't know why . . guess they're all snobs. I mean, Kagura is unbearably arrogant, and I'm sure her sister is going to be just as bad, and Yura is a total psychopath. She once tried tying Inuyasha up with some synthetic hair from the theater department when he beat her at swordplay back in the freshman year physical education triathlon. The girl's totally nuts, stay away from her." Sango looked solemn for a moment, and then happily went back to flinging things out of her suitcase.  
  
"She tried to tie him up with hair?" Kagome asked, somewhat skeptically.  
  
"Uh huh, she's not to be crossed. Oh, and the way she dresses come Fridays, ugh! She's a total slut to boot!"  
  
"Well, guess that doesn't leave too many choices for me", Kagome trailed off.  
  
"I'm glad you're here, Kagome. Now I can finally have a gal pal", Sango smiled. Kagome smiled back. She shifted onto the bed, making herself a little more comfortable.  
  
"So, how long have you know Inuyasha", Kagome asked, "and Miroku", she quickly added, not wanting to seem like a stalker.  
  
"I've known both of them since we all started here, when we were fifteen. God, that seems so long ago! Time really flies by here." She looked plaintively up at the ceiling, "need to make every moment count." She scrutinized Kagome, "What exactly do you want to know?"  
  
"Well, Inuyasha's nickname, for one. And yours, too. And why is Miroku so . . less than honorable?"  
  
Sango laughed, "Well, lets see, Inuyasha "the Half-demon" West, huh? I think Kouga gave him that name. Kouga Wolfgang-Puck was kendo champ at his middle school, so he figured he'd be the same at Aureate Winters. Big mistake, since Inuyasha is the best", pride filtered into Sango's voice as she said the last statement, then suddenly she clouded over, "well, apart from Sesshoumaru, his brother. But in his class, he's the best. He beat Kouga, and Kouga took it pretty badly. He kept challenging Inuyasha to do- over matches, but still lost every time. And once he found out how good Sesshoumaru is, and that Sesshoumaru is known as "The Demon" or "The Demon Prince", and how much Inuyasha hates his brother, then Kouga, in an extraordinary flash of genius, came up with a derogatory spin on Sesshoumaru's nickname, and began calling Inuyasha "The Half-Demon", you know, implying that he's only half as good as Sesshoumaru." Sango stopped to breathe. "He was pissed about that all freshman year and, well, he's still mad about it." She smiled fondly. "He's got such a bad temper, but really, he's got a good heart deep down, although you'd never think it, looking at that cold-as-ice and hard-as-steel façade. Sesshoumaru's worse, though", she contemplated. Kagome the whole time had been chewing on a strand of loose hair, sitting on the edge of her seat as if in a suspense thriller. She was very intrigued by this Inuyasha. But she tried not to show it.  
  
"And how about Sango "The Exterminator" Davis?" she teased, turning the subject away from Inuyasha.  
  
"Well, again in freshman year, we were in a school-wide chemistry competition, and our class was working with mice. Some dumb moron, probably Kouga or Hiten, accidentally shoved the tank holding the mice over the edge of the lab table and they scattered everywhere. All the girls started screaming, and jumping up on the desks", Sango rolled her eyes at this, "and even some of the guys shrank back. Anyway, I felt sorry for the poor mice, you know, they were probably more scared than any of the humans. I scooped them up and let them free outside. End of story. Miroku thought I was so brave, he gave me the nickname, and it stuck. But hey, I love all animals, so it's fine. Whenever there's a furry friend in trouble, I'll be there to set him free!" Sango jumped up and pretended to be a senator, slamming her fist down on an invisible podium. Kagome was in tears from laughing so hard.  
  
"If the story behind Miroku is this funny," she gasped, "I think my sides will split!"  
  
"Nah, that story's boring. Basically, Miroku's dad couldn't keep his hands and eyes to himself, and you know what they say about the apple and the tree." Sango and Kagome looked at each other and burst out laughing helplessly again, slapping each other on the back to keep from choking.  
  
"What do you think they're talking about", Miroku pondered. He took a sip of his latte.  
  
"Who cares?" shrugged Inuyasha, trying to free the strands of his hair that had gotten caught in his bagel and cream cheese. Miroku observed this with a smirk.  
  
"That's why I finally cut mine," he stated matter-of-factly.  
  
"You said your mom made you cut it," Inuyasha interjected.  
  
"Well, that too."  
  
"You're a traitor, man. We used to be comrades in arms, the three musketeers, Sango, you and I. Now it's just Sango and I."  
  
"Well, perhaps the lovely Kagome can join your ranks," Miroku jabbed his friend with his index finger.  
  
"Isn't that your specialty? Initiation rites?" Inuyasha stirred his coffee with a silver spoon from the dinning hall, moving the whipped cream around in little circles.  
  
"Ah, speaking of which . . .do you know of any all girl's schools around this area? You're practically a native Manhattanite."  
  
"Forget it, Miroku. I don't need to be thrown off a ladder, again. Or have some girl try to strangle me with her bra."  
  
"You should be honored! That was a D-cup!" Inuyasha sighed irritably at his friend's idiocy. Hopefully once he was laden down with homework he would stop begin so perverted. A hope in vain, probably. Miroku never let schoolwork get in the way of his true love and ambition.  
  
"Really, aren't you the slightest bit curious about what kind of dirt Sango is dishing?"  
  
"I don't have anything to worry about, fool. It's you I'd be worried about," Inuyasha snorted. "She's probably pulling up your criminal record from the police files as we speak."  
  
Sango was currently describing the spectacular fight between Inuyasha and Hiten and Manten Brenner.  
  
"They both fought him?" Kagome asked, amazed.  
  
"Yeah, he boasted he could 'take them both on' so that's how it happened. He wasn't kidding, it was great!"  
  
"I wish I could have seen it," Kagome said dreamily.  
  
"Oh, all the fights are recorded by the Kendo Club, so it's in the archives. I'll show you where it is later. Hey, we never finished our tour, did we?" Sango winked at Kagome and giggled. She looked down at her watch. "Oh! Time for first assembly! Come on!" Sango grabbed Kagome by her wrist in what was becoming a familiar way, and rushed out the door, slamming it behind her.  
  
  
  
Okay, fourth chapter is up, others will be longer, just as I get some more time on my hands.  
  
As always, reviews appreciated! 


	5. Cartoons and Photo Albums

Playgrounds of the Mind  
  
Chapter Five: Cartoons and Photo Albums  
  
[Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi]  
  
Author's notes: Wow, thanks for the reviews! ^_^ For those of you who figured out my reason for calling the academy Aureate Winters, good job! Not that it was so difficult, but I appreciate those who took such an interest in my story. Does any one like Challenges? I was considering having a little "contest" for each one of my chapters-I would ask if anyone could identify a famous movie quote or something along those lines. Any takers in the audience? Let me know if so.  
  
  
  
Inuyasha and Miroku rose at the loud tolling of the bell, and made their way out of the dinning hall and towards the building chosen for assemblies. Miroku tried to catch some random girl's eye as he slicked back a few loose hairs from his face. Inuyasha grimaced and held his hands over his sensitive ears.  
  
Kagome, led by Sango, arrived breathlessly on the scene. The assembly hall was filling up quickly with students, members of the board of trustees and teachers. Sango found Miroku and Inuyasha in the middle row. She and Kagome rushed over to grab the seats next to the boys, then made a show of sitting down calmly and lady-like. Sango brushed her hair out with her fingers and Kagome smoothed down her skirt. Both girls moved to straighten out their jackets and burst out laughing when they realized they were mimicking each other's movements. Miroku and Inuyasha exchanged glances, and began to imitate the girls' behavior. Miroku grabbed a lock of Inuyasha's hair and began braiding it. Inuyasha knocked him from behind and sent him flying headfirst into Sango's lap. Red-faced, she shoved him back into his seat and sat fuming. Miroku gave Inuyasha the thumbs up sign and winked. Inuyasha had to laugh lightly at that.  
  
A large, rounded man made his way up to the podium and waved for silence. The room was as dead as the grave in an instance. People here are really well behaved, Kagome thought in awe. In her last school it took a few minutes to shush her peers. The man cleared his throat emphatically.  
  
"Welcome returning and new students of Aureate Winters," he boomed, taking the audience by surprise. "I am Roger Wilcox, your headmaster. I am pleased to announce some exciting new programs, classes, and projects we have planned for you fine young ladies and gentlemen this year."  
  
Miroku leaned in towards Inuyasha, "He means he got even more money out of our parents," he stated cynically. Inuyasha nodded curtly.  
  
"Each of you will be required to take certain preliminary courses and fundamental courses; the rest you may choose to your likings as electives. Each Friday is free dress day, with only theatre, sociology, and physical education classes to be held. Classes on Fridays will end at noon, and the weekend is yours to spend as you will, hopefully for homework," the headmaster stressed, his eyes traveling over a few certain individuals.  
  
Kagome seemed a bit relieved. Sango squeezed her arm warmly and mouthed, it'll be fine.  
  
The headmaster went on to introduce the teachers, staff members, and maintenance crew. He finished his speech and introduced the next speaker. A nice-looking middle-aged woman made her way over to take the microphone. Miroku blanched slightly and slouched down in his seat.  
  
"Hello everyone, I am Cheryl Anderson-Monk, the newly-elected president of the board of trustees. Miroku David Monk, your fellow classmate is my son. Hi sweetie!" she called out, waving to her son. All eyes turned to look at Miroku, who was desperately trying not to turn red. Inuyasha shook with silent laughter, and Sango looked up at the ceiling and smiled. Mrs. Monk continued on with her speech, stating new projects planned and when they would be completed. "I am pleased to announce this year's second semester will be in Paris," she waited for the clapping to cease. "And next year, we will all see each other in Tokyo!" Kagome smiled, looks like next year, I'll be the one close to home.  
  
After many more announcements, the headmaster took to the stage one final time. He dismissed the classes until Monday and wished them a good weekend. The students clapped politely and began to disperse. Miroku grabbed Inuyasha by his collar, Sango by her jacket sleeve and indicated with his head to Kagome to run outside. Shoving the trio, Miroku finally let them go halfway across the lawn from the steps of the building. Sango hit him on the arm and brushed her jacket. Inuyasha similarly glared and straightened his collar, almost having choked to death.  
  
"What is with you, Monk?" Inuyasha spat.  
  
"Yeah," Sango chimed in. She turned to Kagome, asking the fellow girl to inspect her outfit, making sure there were no more wrinkles.  
  
"We have to get out of here before my mom catches me and makes me go to lunch with her boring friends from the board!" Miroku made an attempt to grab his friends again, but they sagely stepped back and he missed.  
  
"You should relish the time you spend with your mom," Inuyasha nearly yelled. Sango narrowed her eyes at Miroku. He felt badly, forgetting himself in front of Inuyasha. He tried to mumble something, but was cut off.  
  
"There you are, darling! You left so quickly!" Miroku's mother adjusted the strap of her Chanel Bag and ran her fingers through her bangs.  
  
"Oh, hi mom," the younger Monk said feebly, "I was just going to show my new friend Kagome around some more." Kagome glared at Miroku for pulling her into the fray.  
  
"Well it's very nice to meet you Kagome," she smiled. "Have I met your parents?"  
  
"Um," Kagome stumbled. She was not so keen on everybody finding out about her connections to the school.  
  
"Er, this is Kagome's first year," Sango interjected, saving her friend from saying anything. Inuyasha also stepped in.  
  
"Gee, Cheryl it's nice to see you again," he said charmingly.  
  
"Oh, Inuyasha, you devil you! You look even more handsome then I last remember. And that gorgeous hair!" She turned sharply to her son. "Now, Miroku why wouldn't you grow your hair out like that?" she demanded. Miroku's eyes widened in pure disbelief, as he attempted to form coherent words.  
  
"You-You made me cut it!" he stuttered, hardly knowing how to contain his incredulity. Mrs. Monk simply made a dismissive gesture with her hand and reached into her purse to re-apply her perfume.  
  
"Sango, dear, and Inuyasha and Kagome, you won't mind if I take Miroku away for the day, would you? There are some lovely ladies on the board who are just dying to see him again."  
  
"Of course not," Sango and Inuyasha said together, each pulling Miroku by an arm. Miroku sent them death glares as he and his mother walked off to their waiting car and driver.  
  
"See you later!" Sango sweetly called after his retreating form. He angrily shook his fist at her in response, before being yanked into the open door by his mother.  
  
"Now that that's over with," Inuyasha smirked, "what should we do?"  
  
"Actually, I have to meet Kohaku later today, so I have to hang around campus."  
  
"Oh, that's right, how's his back?" Inuyasha asked with concern. Sango smiled at her friend warmly.  
  
"He's just fine now." She turned to Kagome. "My younger brother injured his back last spring, and he had to have some minor surgery over the summer, so he's arriving a bit later." She said in explanation.  
  
"Oh, Sango, I'm just glad he's okay," she replied. Sango picked up a deviant daisy at her feet.  
  
"Alright then, guys, I'll see you later this weekend," she said, as she started off at a jog in the direction of the main drive, where no doubt her brother would be arriving shortly. Kagome waved and looked back to Inuyasha. Catching her gaze, he looked at the grass and paced a bit.  
  
"So," he started, and then trailed off. "If you want, I could show you my house. It's a pretty close drive from here. I had my car driven up for me," he grinned happily at this.  
  
Kagome blushed furiously. "That sounds great," she said, trying not to appear over zealous. "I'll just get my bag from my room," she stated, turning around and realizing she had no idea where to go.  
  
Inuyasha laughed good-naturedly. "Want me to show you?" She nodded. They walked over to the girl's dorm, silently, neither saying a word, or rather, unable to come up with something to say. Inuyasha stopped outside the doorway.  
  
"I'll wait for you here," he leaned against a column. Kagome rushed upstairs, searching like a mad woman for her deeply hidden bag. She located it and ran over to the mirror on her boudoir, fixing her makeup and re-brushing her hair. She stood and took a light sweater from her closet. Okay, just relax and don't blow this, Kagome breathed, willing her heart to stop beating so hard against her breastbone.  
  
Inuyasha rose as Kagome ran out the door. He gave her a small smile. "That was fast." Kagome's heart jumped even higher at the praise. Being told you don't take long by a guy is the ultimate compliment, she thought, smiling widely when his back was turned, so that he could not see her. After she calmed herself, she went to walk besides him. She noticed other students on the campus giving the couple stares. Kagome couldn't resist telling herself the girls were all jealous that she had Inuyasha's attention. Really, I'm such a hedonist, Kagome scolded.  
  
The two teens arrived at the parking lot reserved for students. Inuyasha pulled out his keys and opened the door for Kagome. She once again blushed furiously at his chivalrous acts, and tried to figure out what kind of car it was so that she might make a comment about it. Like I know anything about cars, Kagome grumbled internally. Why couldn't she have listened more carefully to Souta and her Grandfather talk about cars and racing? Inuyasha slid into his seat and adjusted the seat belt. Kagome moved to do the same, but could not quite get the buckle to snap in place. Inuyasha carefully took the two ends from her and snapped it in place. He smiled at her. Kagome meekly thanked him, feeling stupid. I've got to think of something to say! She tried to think her way out of her mental turmoil.  
  
"This car has a really nice interior." Kagome blinked. What did I just say? Oh lord, how much lamer can I get??  
  
"Yeah, it's a great ride for a hard-core race car. My brother still can't believe it's mine and not his." He grinned and gunned the car, swerving past a slower moving vehicle. Kagome lurched in her seat. He drives like a maniac, she thought. She signed to herself, how romantic is that? Kagome blinked again. I'm turning into a babbling buffoon, and I haven't even started classes yet, she mentally groaned.  
  
"So, you have a brother?" she decided to make some small talk. But Inuyasha's features darkened instead.  
  
"Yeah, but I don't want to talk about him. He and I don't get along, period." His words came out harsh and almost cruel. Kagome shrank back a bit.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Don't be. It's not your fault he hates me. So what about your family?"  
  
"I have a little brother, Souta. My mom and grandfather and Souta and I live right outside Tokyo, actually."  
  
"Wow, so you'll be home next year," he smiled. "I guess you can show me your house, then." Kagome nodded enthusiastically. The car was speeding over a bridge. Inuyasha had a look of intense concentration as he attempted to drive as fast as possible, yet not turn the car over as it took to the bends. Kagome found herself unconsciously holding on to the door handle. They appeared to be in a suburban setting. She looked at Inuyasha's profile. He had a perfectly sharp jaw and a cute, perfectly shaped nose. His eyebrows arched masterfully over his golden eyes, framing his face, adding the perfect balance of angular elements. He could be a model, Kagome realized. Not that he needs to get by on his looks. Apart from coming from one of the riches families in the world, Sango had told her earlier, he had the highest GPA in their class. And add the best martial artist to that list, and we have ourselves a winner, Kagome told herself, feeling slightly flushed.  
  
"Are you too hot?" Inuyasha asked. "You know, the top goes down on this thing!" He gleefully pressed a button, and before Kagome could protest, seventy mile-per-hour winds were hitting her in the face, slamming her body back against the seat. She cracked one eye open and observed Inuyasha. His hair and bangs were widely thrown back and his eyes blazed with joy.  
  
"Guys and their cars," Kagome mumbled, although he wouldn't have been able to hear her if she used a bullhorn.  
  
The newly transformed convertible came to a sudden stop outside huge wrought-iron gates. Inuyasha was about to punch in a code, when a voice came on over the intercom.  
  
"Master Inuyasha, you're home early! Please come in." The gates slid open slightly, to Kagome's surprise. She figured they would have creaked open, like in those horror movies.  
  
Inuyasha brought the car around to the side and parked beneath an extend carport. He slid out and ran around to assist Kagome. She found it hard to walk upright at first, as her body subsided from the momentum. It was like being in a space shuttle, she thought. A short man ran out to greet them.  
  
"Master Inuyasha! Ah, I see you have a charming guest." He walked over. "May I take your bag and sweater, miss?"  
  
"Just put them in my sitting room, Myouga," Inuyasha instructed. He motioned for Kagome to follow him.  
  
"I'm guessing you've had enough tours today," he smiled and pushed the door open, "so I'll just show you my room, and maybe the dojo."  
  
Kagome perked up, "You have a dojo?"  
  
"Yep. I train here when school's gym is closed, although that's not too often." He led her into a spacious chef's kitchen. He ambled over to the refrigerator and looked inside. "Would you like a drink? There's sparkling lemonade, tonic water, left-over Champagne," Kagome cut into his rambling.  
  
"Lemonade sounds fine, thanks." He poured two glasses and handed one to her. They were about to head upstairs when a phone rang somewhere. They started up the stairs, but Myouga called out.  
  
"Master Inuyasha, a call for you." Inuyasha gave his companion an apologetic glance and told her to wait on the landing. He ran off into the parlor, searching for a phone. Kagome observed some photos on the walls. She went to take a closer look.  
  
They were obviously of the West family, mostly authoritative looking portraits. She saw a young man who seemed to be about eighteen or nineteen, looking aristocratically bored. Must be his brother, she thought. Their resemblance was startling, but then again, so were their differences. Inuyasha had an entirely warmer and more human seeming aura surrounding him. Even from a photograph, she could tell Sesshoumaru was removed from those around him, cold and aloof. Looking at a nearby table, she noticed a photo album. Picking it up and leafing through it, she could tell how much the two siblings disliked each other. One photo showed a much younger Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha at the beach. Sesshoumaru was burying his little brother alive, waiting for the tide to come in. Another showed the family at a fancy dinner, with Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru unfortunately seated next to one another. Inuyasha was in the process of setting his brother's hair on fire with a candle, and a maid was desperately dumping a bowl of punch over the flame. Yet another captured a disastrous family outing, with the two brothers splashing and trying to drown each other in a fountain. Each was trying to get up without letting the other up in the process. Kagome tisked, flipping through the album, trying to find a single example of the two acting civilized. Here's one she thought. It was an image of Inuyasha pouring coffee for his brother. Only she noticed that he didn't stop pouring once he reached the rim of the cup. She shook her head and closed the pages. Was it always this way? How had brothers become enemies at so young an age? She replaced the books and came to stand in front of the portrait wall. Two beautiful women caught her eye, each one's portrait flanking a huge portrait of who could only be Inuyasha's father. He seemed a powerful and commanding man, who had the same stark eyes and hair as his sons. The women were very different, both in looks and demeanor; one had waving, dark red hair, sharp green eyes and pale as moonlight skin. The other, handing on the other side of Inuyasha's father, had shiny, long dark locks and the most hypnotizing violet eyes. She had delicate features, as if carved from a pearl. Kagome's thoughts were interrupted by Inuyasha's shout. He motioned for her to come back; for some reason it seemed he didn't want to go near the pictures. She ran up to him. She was about to explain what she was doing, but Inuyasha simply started up the stairs. Kagome ran to catch up.  
  
"Here we are," he announced, opening large double oak doors at the end of the hall. It seems like this is a whole wing of the house, Kagome mused. He led her to a drawing room, the first one on the left when they entered the suite.  
  
"This place is amazing," Kagome breathed. She stared at everything in wonder. Inuyasha seemed to shrug. He walked over to a bookshelf, and she joined him. She looked over his books and her eye landed on an artist's sketch pad.  
  
"Oh, do you draw?" she asked, picking it up tentatively.  
  
"Sort of," he made a hand gesture, "It's most just cartoons."  
  
Kagome looked at them in pleasure. These were very good. She observed a particular frame. It showed a large, scraggly looking dog with evil red eyes and some kind of substance dripping out of its mouth. Where the liquid fell, it burned the ground away like acid. A thick, greenish looking mist filled the air. Sanding in front of the monstrously large dog was Inuyasha himself, wearing a red traditional kimono and holding a sword. He was yelling something: 'Stand back! His breath is like poison!'  
  
"Yeah, that's my rendition of Sesshoumaru. When we were kids and he'd piss me off I would secretly draw these cartoons of him as a smelly dog whose halitosis could kill."  
  
"It's great," Kagome laughed. "Probably the best way to work off stress."  
  
"Well, yeah, short of killing him myself," Inuyasha commented. Kagome just shook her head and laughed some more.  
  
Let's see, she mentally counted, trait number 284: he's funny and talented. She groaned. She wasn't going to have any room in her head for her studies if she kept this up.  
  
  
  
  
  
Whew, done at last. Now I'm starving so I'm going to go eat. Thanks again to all my reviewers and readers. I want to add more humor to the story. Any comments?  
  
Reviews always appreciated! 


	6. Strange Dreams

Playgrounds of the Mind  
  
  
  
Chapter Six: Strange Dreams  
  
[Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi]  
  
  
  
Author's Notes: As usual, a big thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! Your praise and comments mean so much to me! If there's anything you'd like to see happen, plot-wise, let me know-I just might write it in.  
  
CHALLENGE: Since some individuals have expressed interest in this, I will try to come up with a fun (hopefully) challenge every chapter. For answers to the first one, see my endnotes.  
  
Faint sunlight streamed through Kagome's partially drawn shades as dawn made her rosy creep into her throne in the sky. The young transfer student grumbled and tried to block out the light with her arm, but after fitfully tossing and turning, finally got out of bed and arranged the covers. Standing back to survey her work, she tossed a ruffled pillow over the uneven spread and decided the bed looked fine. Pulling on her fuzzy pink robe and matching bunny slippers, she made her way over to Sango's room to see if she were awake. Listening intensely, Kagome heard someone's footsteps. She knocked lightly.  
  
The door flew open and Kagome was startled to see a young looking boy standing in the doorframe. She gasped involuntarily. Sango made her way over and smiled when she caught sight of Kagome.  
  
"Hey there, how'd you sleep?"  
  
"Oh, sorry Sango, I didn't know you had company," Kagome's mind whirled in confusion. Who was this boy?  
  
"Good! This is Kohaku, by the way," she presented the boy who grinned and gave a smile wave.  
  
"Oh, nice to meet you." Now the events of the past day came flooding back. Her brother Kohaku, Kagome smiled at him.  
  
"We're not supposed to have overnight guests without requesting permission first, but you won't tell, eh, Kagome?" Sango teased, ruffling Kohaku's hair. "Speaking of which, I should probably sneak you out of here," she commented, poking her head out into the deserted hall. "I'll be right back," she told Kagome. Kohaku waved a good bye as he followed his sister out. Kagome walked into the room and sat down on the part of Sango's bed that was made. A few moments later, the inhabitant of the room appeared.  
  
"We were catching up all night and forgot the time," she explained, picking up a few loose items off of the floor. Kagome nodded, stifling a yawn that threatened to crack her face.  
  
"So, what did you and Inuyasha do yesterday afternoon?" Sango inquired, also slipping on her robe and combing her wild hair.  
  
"He showed me parts of his house, and a bit of the island. We watched a polo match; I'd never seen one before." Kagome thought back to the events of yesterday.  
  
"Uh, huh," Sango implored her to go on.  
  
"He showed me some of his cartoons. He has amazing talent."  
  
Sango seemed a bit shocked at this. "Wow, he showed you his sketch book? It took Miroku and me half a year to get him to show us that! He must really like you and trust you already." Kagome felt the heat rise in her face.  
  
"Well, enough of reminiscing, Sango, you need to show me where the bathroom is again!" Kagome laughed. "This place is so confusing, I'm beginning to think I need to buy a GPS locator." Sango smiled and grabbed her shower caddy. She followed Kagome to her room, where she grabbed the things she would need.  
  
The two girls walked down the hall a bit. A chestnut door with fancy carvings had a plaque stating: 101-105.  
  
"Each bathroom is shared by five people, so it's never crowded," Sango pointed out.  
  
"Glad to see we're both in this one," Kagome smiled. They walked in a placed their things on a lacquered bench. Looking up, they caught sight of two people in the main room of the bathroom, in front of the floor-to- ceiling mirror. Kagome saw one was the pale freshman from her group orientation, the other was taller and dark haired; she was standing over the other, curling her hair.  
  
"What the hell are you doing here, Kagura? This isn't your assigned bathroom," Sango narrowed her eyes.  
  
"Can't I help my little sister do her hair, Sango?" Kagura scoffed, throwing back her head and squaring her shoulders, returning the other's cold stare.  
  
"Whatever," Sango sneered slightly, pushing past Kagura. Kagome was slightly shocked. She had never seen Sango act so offensively. She stood there, wavering, not knowing what to do.  
  
"Hi, my name's Kagome Higurashi," she offered, extending her hand. Kanna looked up momentarily, as if to respond. Kagura stepped back and a cruel smile appeared on her face.  
  
"Oh, so you're the transfer," she said, stressing the word transfer as if it was an unpleasant adjective. Kagome knitted her brows together.  
  
"Yes, Kagura," Sango cut in harshly, "she's the transfer student who was smart and talented enough to get in from high school, not just middle school." Kagura glared at Sango, as if willing her to melt into a puddle and drain away.  
  
A slight burning smell reached the girls' nostrils. Sango smirked.  
  
"I think you're burning your sister's hair. Gee, Kanna, maybe you should try a salon next time," Sango grabbed Kagome's wrist and pulled her past the now cursing Kagura and shrieking Kanna.  
  
"Is she going to be alright?" Kagome asked.  
  
"With a sister like Kagura, probably not, but that really can't be helped."  
  
Kagome had a slight new respect mixing with fear build up for Sango. She wasn't someone she wanted to get on the wrong side of, clearly.  
  
In the inner room, there were sparkling clean showers built up on a nicely carved cedar floor. Each shower had a temperature gauge next to it, as well as several speeds of water flow. It was like being in a sauna, Kagome reflected. The girls chose their showers and went about their morning routines.  
  
  
  
"What are we exactly doing here, again?" Inuyasha questioned his friend, whom he was following up a fire escape on a building in down town Manhattan. Not that if would make more sense hearing it again; he rolled his eyes to himself.  
  
"Inuyasha, don't you have any cultural appreciation at all? The ballet is one of the most beautiful art forms in the western world! We are here," Miroku said, letting the corners of his mouth turn up, "to appreciate it!"  
  
"It's eight in the morning, this is the training side of the building, and there's no ballet production even planned for tonight," Inuyasha reminded him, with a slight edge to his voice.  
  
Miroku stopped near a long window, leaning outside the stair's railing as far as he could to catch a glimpse of the ballerinas stretching. The old rusty railing creaked, protesting  
  
"Oh man," Inuyasha whined, "you're going to get us killed or worse! Why did I ever accompany you here? I must have been out of my mind this morning for agreeing to drive you out here."  
  
"You were sleeping so soundly," Miroku threw over his shoulder, "you must have been having a very pleasant dream." Although Miroku's intonations were not lost on Inuyasha, he fell silent, reflecting on the strange dream he did have.  
  
He remembered walking through an old shrine, and coming to a covered well. The well seemed endless, yet sparkled and shimmered in a navy hazy at the bottom, as if there were no real bottom but an infinite black hole. Staring so deeply into the well, Inuyasha felt himself being pulled into its murky depths. Strangely unresisting, he was brought down. He felt like he was slowly falling in a vacuum, no air, or noise of any kind disturbed him. Finally his feet touched earth. Looking down he saw he was standing on top of earth and old bones. Looking up, he realized to get anywhere, he'd need to climb out. After a few moments, he pulled himself up over the edge. He blinked, taking in the brightness of the forest clearing around him. Verdant and lush trees greeted his glance. This was no longer the shrine, he mused. He felt pulled in a certain direction and walked that way. Deeper in the woods, he saw a massive tree growing out of gnarled roots and moss. He let his eyes travel upwards, and there he saw a figure. Walking nearer, he saw it was a girl, with dark hair. She seemed to be peacefully asleep, despite handing to the bark of the tree by an arrow. Was she . . no. But, yes, it was Kagome. But her hair seemed longer, and she appeared to have a more serious expression on her face. There seemed to be a pulse in the air, as if something momentous was stirring, finally awakening.  
  
But the only thing Inuyasha awoke to was Miroku's insistent pleas to be driven into the city. The strange dream's lull dissipated and Inuyasha grudgingly got up to sock Miroku.  
  
Meanwhile, Miroku had managed to inadvertently attract the attention of the ballet instructor. She angrily walked over and flung the window open, and tried to hit Miroku in the face with a mop. Miroku jumped back and stepped heavily on Inuyasha's foot. Lost in thought, Inuyasha was not as quick to react, and howling, jumped back a few steps, ending up almost tumbling down the stairs. The old iron creaked and a bolt snapped off the building's side, making the fire escape shake and sway. Losing his balance completely, Miroku fell into Inuyasha, who then smacked against the other side of the railing. Another bolt snapped off, and the entire second story of the fire escape tilted 80 degrees and dumped its passengers onto the streets below.  
  
Inuyasha landed on the roof of a passing bus, and using his lightning quick reflexes, rolled himself up and flipped over the edge, landing gracefully on the ground, right in the path of an oncoming taxi. Again he used some martial arts moves to get himself out of the way, jumping to the sidewalk and almost into a hotdog vendor. Straightening his favorite red shirt and black cargo pants, he looked around for Miroku, evident displeasure written all over his fair face. With growing apprehension he ran up and down the block directly beneath the fire escape, looking for his delinquent friend. Did he manage to get hit by something, Inuyasha wondered.  
  
Hearing a slight groan, he whipped around. Inuyasha stared in shock as a hand wrapped in bracelets appeared over the rim of a dumpster. Inuyasha jumped to the rim in one bound. He looked down at Miroku, covered in Chinese take-out. He laughed uncontrollably.  
  
"It's not funny," Miroku yelled, trying to get rid of some of the coagulated noodles plastered to his head. He held out his hand to Inuyasha, who simply snorted at it and refused to help him up.  
  
Inuyasha jumped to the sidewalk, watching Miroku struggle out of the garbage.  
  
"Don't even think you're getting into my car like that," he stated. Miroku tried giving him the puppy dog look, but then remembered that that only worked on girls, and that Inuyasha would never sympathize with his plight, regardless.  
  
"How am I supposed to get home, then?" Miroku complained.  
  
"Ever hear of the subway?"  
  
"I'm not taking it alone, looking like this! Rich kids get harassed on public transportation!" Miroku pointed to his designer slacks and shirt.  
  
"If anyone bothers you, just give them a bracelet," he rolled his eyes, "you have enough to spare, after all."  
  
"Don't you have any compassion!? I just fell into a dumpster!"  
  
"I fell in front of a taxi!"  
  
"Well, I'd rather fall into a taxi then a dumpster!"  
  
"Fine, next time send a memo!"  
  
After twenty minutes of arguing, in which the two students attracted many stares, and the hotdog vendor kept staring up at the sky, waiting for something nice, like a million dollars, to fall out of the sky, instead of two pesky kids, Inuyasha convinced Miroku to take the subway, under the condition he would not tell Sango what had transpired. The two friends separated at the subway entrance, with Inuyasha heading back towards his car.  
  
Arriving at school Inuyasha parked the car and walked over to the dorm to see if Miroku had made it back yet. Crossing the lawn, he saw his least favorite person standing at the other end, next to whom was his second- least favorite person.  
  
"What do you bastards want," he growled.  
  
Sesshoumaru raised a delicate eyebrow and frowned deeply at his younger brother.  
  
"The Kendo club is having an early meeting today," he stated, giving off an air of contempt.  
  
"Maybe this year you should drop out, half-demon," Kouga Wolfgang-Puck sneered, enjoying himself. "I think we can do just fine without you, and it would leave you more time to spend with that girl."  
  
"I think I'll stay just where I am, were-wolf wimp," Inuyasha met the venom in his voice, ounce for ounce.  
  
Sesshoumaru gave a look of disgust to both lower classmen and turned on his heel. Kouga and Inuyasha sized each other up, promising pain and death in the Kendo spars to come. Inuyasha observed the idiotic designer metal-and- fur contraption Kouga was wearing. He snorted at his foe.  
  
"Usual room, eleven-o-clock," Kouga jeered, tightening his ponytail. He stalked off, considering the way Inuyasha's expression changed slightly when he mentioned 'that girl'. What was it about her that had his rival all riled up? He had to find out. He looked at his watch, and noting the time, made a beeline for the girl's dorm.  
  
He had something in mind for Inuyasha's precious girl.  
  
  
  
  
  
Author's endnotes: Uh, oh, what does Kouga have planned for the unsuspecting Kagome? Next chapter will probably deal with some school issues as well.  
  
Last challenge answer: Aureate means both golden and pompous, and Winters refers to snow and white. So part of the academy's name applies to Inuyasha, the other to Sesshoumaru, our favorite demon brothers. I didn't want to make the academy called Shikon or Sengoku or anything over done like that.  
  
NEW CHALLENGE: There's a perfect song to accompany the scene where Inuyasha and Miroku take a dive off the fire escape. Any ideas? There's probably more than one right answer, so fire away! ^_^  
  
Reviews appreciated, especially in answer to the challenge, although not necessarily. 


	7. Subterfuge

Playgrounds of the Mind  
  
Chapter Seven: Subterfuge  
  
[Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi]  
  
Author's notes: Hey! Sorry for the long delay! As always, a big thanks to my reviewers and readers alike! I'm trying to add more humor to the story, so let me know how it turns out!  
  
CHALLENGE ANSWER: I was thinking of "It's Raining Men" by the Weather Girls for when Inuyasha and Miroku fall off the fire escape, but I really like the other suggestions people mentioned! Jack and Jill, that's hysterical! Really, isn't Miroku like a little kid, going heedlessly after what he wants without a thought to anything else? ^_^ Next challenge will be posted at the bottom in my endnotes.  
  
  
  
Kouga sided up to the girl's dorm and looked in through the curtain glass. Noting nobody in the main foyer, he briskly entered and walked up to the list of inhabitants. He let his eyes wander over the names until he came across the only unfamiliar one. Kagome Higurashi. The one Inuyasha had been spending so much time with. He committed her room number to memory and was about to leave when he heard Sango Davis' voice and another girl's. He realized with luck that Sango had just said 'Kagome', so she must be the other girl. He listened intently for a few seconds.  
  
"Ok, Kagome, I'll see you back in the dorm in an hour then!" Sango called out as she went down to the storage area of the dorm.  
  
"Alright Sango, and hurry! I don't want to miss the Kendo Club's match today!" So she wanted to see the spars, eh? Kouga thought. This was too perfect. He headed out the door and waited just outside the corner. A few seconds later, the door swung open and a some what short girl with black hair walked out and blinked against the searing sun, looking around as if trying to get her bearings. In a flash, Kouga saw his opportunity.  
  
"Hey, there, you must be the new girl in our class," he said in what he hoped was a friendly tone. "I've been wanting to meet you and welcome you to the school," he continued, smiling his most dashing smile and sticking out his hand. "I'm Kouga Wolfgang-Puck, I'm a member of the Kendo Club."  
  
"Oh, thank you. Nice to meet you, I'm Kagome Higurashi." She seemed to be staring at his outfit. How is he going to fight in that, Kagome wondered.  
  
Kouga stepped back a bit and ran a hand through his ponytail. "Well, would you like me to give you a tour, since you're new and all?" Kagome paled considerably upon hearing the word 'tour'.  
  
"Er, that's ok, really," she stuttered. "Actually, I'm just killing some time till I meet up with my friend to go to the Kendo match."  
  
"Oh, really?" Kouga pretended to look surprised. "Well, I'm on my way there, too, see, I'm going to spar with Inuyasha West, the Vice-Captain." He hoped the girl's interest was piqued. "I'm challenging him for his title." Sure enough, Kagome looked interested, and somewhat worried.  
  
"The fights aren't . . . too dangerous, are they?" she meekly inquired, realizing she must sound like a fool.  
  
"Oh, no," Kouga falsely assured her. He smiled again. "Would you like to accompany me there now? I can grant you the best seat in the house, and save one for your friend, too," he offered, hoping she would take the bait.  
  
"Alright," Kagome smiled, her heart soaring a little thinking of Inuyasha. She followed Kouga as he walked through the campus.  
  
What am I doing, anyway? Kouga internally battled with himself. Sure, I can take her there, and then what? A cruel smile brushed across his face momentarily. I can sit her in the area reserved for my supporters, he mused, realizing she wouldn't know any better. Maybe Inuyasha will be so angry, he won't be able to concentrate as well, and I can finally beat him, Kouga decided smugly. A good plan for so little time.  
  
Kagome was lost in thought as she followed the strange boy with the even stranger clothing. I thought Sango said he was pretty mean and dumb, she reflected. Maybe he's matured over the summer, she decided, and relaxed a bit about the whole thing. She'd get to see Inuyasha soon, anyway. Adrenaline rushed into her veins and she willed it to die down before it overwhelmed her.  
  
  
  
Across campus, Sesshoumaru had decided to take a shortcut through the library. He had just approached the doors when they flew open unexpectedly and deposited a short girl with a loose side ponytail directly into him. She knocked the breath out of his lungs as she barreled right into his solar plexus, leaving him slightly dazed. Her momentum carried them both right down the five steps up to the doors, and deposited new freshman Rin Jerome right smack on top of Kendo Club Captain and SGA president Sesshoumaru "The Demon Prince" West.  
  
A few moments passed in which Rin tentatively opened an eye and stared about her surroundings. Looking in horror at the person who had broken her fall she scampered off and kneeled next to the prone figure, whose eyes were closed lightly.  
  
"Oh, no! Oh, no! Don't die, don't die!" she shrieked, shaking Sesshoumaru violently. He snapped open his eyes and pushed her roughly away. He sat up slowly, checking that he had no injuries, and finally allowed himself to glare at the nuisance next to him. She was half sobbing, and quite a mess with her hair in disarray. She held both fists pressed tightly against her mouth, her eyes wide open staring at him.  
  
"What do you think-"  
  
"OH GOD, are you alright?!" she shrieked anew, startling Sesshoumaru once again. He reached over and none too gently clapped a hand over her mouth.  
  
"Be silent," he hissed. "Who are you?"  
  
"OH, I'm sorry! I was late, but then I realized I wasn't, but then I though well, If I thought I was late for something, maybe it was something else, so I started to run, and I took the wrong doors, so I panicked and ran some more, and I ran out these doors, and I couldn't-"  
  
"STOP!" Sesshoumaru roared. He breathed deeply. "I asked you your name, not the reason for your idiocy." She looked pitifully at him.  
  
"R-Rin Jerome," she nearly whispered.  
  
"Well, Rin Jerome, I suggest you stay out of my way for the rest of your years here," he said curtly, and stood her upright in one smooth movement as he himself rose off of the cement. Then he did a mental double take. What did I just do? Why did I help her up? I should have left her on the ground and stalked off.  
  
"Thank you," she said, a hint of happiness in her soft voice. "I mean, for saving me, and I'm sorry I ran into you." He gave her an extra contemptuous look and turned away. She apparently did not understand that she had been dismissed, and began following him. He turned about sharply.  
  
"I said stay out of my way!" He quickly spun around again and walked off, not bothering to look back. He walked down the hall and passed through the second pair of doors at the opposite end. If she's here, too, I'll kill her, he angrily thought. But of course she was absent.  
  
How did she manage to throw me down? His mind kept spinning that same question over and over again. He could easily avoid an approaching train, or any Kendo attack from some pathetic opponent, but he couldn't dodge a stupid girl? What was it about her? He could not shake the feeling that she was different from all other girls he had had contact with so far.  
  
From a safe distance, Rin observed her savior walk off. She set her face in a line of resolution. She would find a way to thank him, if it was the last thing she'd do. She followed him again, but kept to the shadows this time.  
  
  
  
"Strange," murmured Sango, when she didn't find Kagome in the foyer or in her room. She ran out to look for her near the dorm. She caught Miroku running towards the direction of the boy's dorm, naked to the waist, holding his sweater in his hand. He didn't seem to have any of his bracelets.  
  
"Miroku! What the hell happened to you? Aren't you coming to the match?"  
  
Miroku waved her off and sped into the dorm. She squinted after him. Was he covered in noodles?  
  
"Is everybody losing it so early into the semester?" Sango questioned. She sighed and decided to head over to the meeting, hoping to find Kagome along the way.  
  
The room was packed, and there was still five minutes to spare. Inuyasha observed the huge crowd, not a trace of emotion in his face, save for determination. His eyes passed over the spectators; he nodded every once in a while to an acquaintance or classmate. His brother walked in, looked slightly ruffled. Not that anyone else apart from Inuyasha could tell. After growing up with him, Inuyasha could detect when he had actually been upset by something. All thoughts of his brother instantly disappeared when he spotted Kagome sitting in Kouga's box. His eyes narrowed into slits as he glared at Kouga who was currently speaking animatedly to the girl in question. Suddenly she spotted him and waved enthusiastically and smiled broadly. Inuyasha gave her a cold glance and turned away, his shoulders showing tenseness. Kouga smirked at this exchange.  
  
What did I do wrong, Kagome thought sadly. Had he not wanted her to come? She noticed motion in the corner of her eye and looked over. She saw Sango trying to get her attention from across the crowed room. Kagome tried yelling, and realized it was useless-as anticipation grew, so had people's voices, and it was impossible to hear anything across a distance. She mouthed the words, "Come sit here." Sango looked at her as if she were mad. Kagome looked confused. She was about to go over there and explain that Kouga had offered her seats, when the lights dimmed for a few moments and came back on. The crowd settled down. Kagome gave a last glance to Sango and turned to face the front of the ring.  
  
The person she recognized as Inuyasha's brother came to the center. He spoke in a low, steady voice that commanded respect and revered silence.  
  
"Welcome to the first Kendo match of the year. I am Sesshoumaru Damien West, the Captain of the team for four years so far. Allow me to introduce the Vice-Captain, Inuyasha Alexander West." He gestured to Inuyasha who nodded curtly. "The first match will be challenger Kouga Wolfgang-Puck versus the Vice-Captain," he continued, now gesturing to Kouga. "The match will be one round, no time limit."  
  
Kouga and Inuyasha walked into the ring. Kouga held his sword loosely in his hand, and Inuyasha had his slung over his shoulder, in a manner Kagome found very attractive and nonchalant looking. The two opponents bowed to each other and took their individual stances.  
  
The fight began, with both kendo members seeming to take the aggressive approach. Kagome and the others admired the fluid movements and calculated attacks. Then the spar took a slightly sinister turn, as Inuyasha fought back even harder, dodging blows instead of blocking and rushing forward to attack. The audience was on the edge of their seats, breathlessly anticipating the next moves.  
  
Wow, Kagome mused, Inuyasha really doesn't like Kouga, huh? She felt strangely guilty for taking Kouga up on his offer earlier. Then she frowned. It wasn't as if she and Inuyasha were. . together or anything. This wasn't feudal times, either, where Kouga could have been Inuyasha's sworn nemesis or something along those lines. She had only known Inuyasha a short time! Why did she feel the need to be loyal to him and his causes?  
  
Kouga realized too late into the fight that making Inuyasha mad only made it worse for himself. It seemed Inuyasha did better under pressure and anger than without. Oops. Kouga made a last attempt to attack and Inuyasha seized the opportunity to knock the sword from Kouga's hands. Sesshoumaru called for a halt.  
  
"The winner is the Vice-Captain. Well done," he stated, although he did not seem to mean it. In turn, Inuyasha did not seem to care what Sesshoumaru thought. He swung his sword over his shoulder again and gave Kouga a defiant stare and walked off the mats. Kouga glared at his retreating back, although did not appear to be overly defeated looking.  
  
As the meeting came to a close and people started wandering around, Kagome got up to try and get to Inuyasha to congratulate him. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea, and Kagome found she could not get very close. She felt someone grab her wrist.  
  
Kagome turned around to face a fuming Sango.  
  
"What were you doing, rooting for Kouga?!" she yelled, throwing her hands up in the air.  
  
"What?" Kagome said, shaken. "I wasn't! I was here for Inuyasha. Kouga just offered me a seat and--"  
  
"That's Kouga's box! I was trying to get you to come over to sit with me and Miroku, if he ever showed up."  
  
"Oh." Kagome looked crestfallen. "I didn't realize. No wonder Inuyasha seemed so angry."  
  
Sango's face softened. "I'm sure he's not really mad; besides, we'll explain the whole thing, I mean you didn't know any better." Kagome smiled weakly.  
  
"That is, if we can get to him." Sango authoritatively pushed her way through the crowd, pulling Kagome alongside her.  
  
"Well, finally, Mr. Big shot, ready to meet your adoring fans," Sango drawled out, putting her hands on her hips and giving Inuyasha a look that spelled "as one of your best friends, you'd better hold my praise above all others'".  
  
"Would you like an autograph, Sango?" he questioned good-naturedly, until he caught site of Kagome next to his friend. His expression soured.  
  
"Inuyasha," she started, but he made as if to turn away. "Wait! I didn't know I was sitting in Kouga's box, honestly!"  
  
"I'm sure," he returned coldly, once again shifting his face away.  
  
"Inuyasha," Sango cut in sharply, "Kagome is new, remember? It's Kouga you should be mad at."  
  
"I came here to see you," Kagome said soothingly. Suddenly she listened to herself. Honestly, why am I supplicating in front of him? It's not like he's High King and I am begging for my life, she reasoned. If anything, Inuyasha was acting like a spoiled child. She sighed heavily, feeling guilty, embarrassed, depressed and angry all at once. The blood started to pulse painfully in her temples.  
  
"It's okay," Inuyasha eventually said. He still acted hurt, though. He's got some serious abandonment issues, Kagome figured. I guess his parents must have been busy constantly while he was growing up. If only Kagome knew how far off the mark she was with that thought.  
  
Sango, Kagome and Inuyasha made their way out the doors. Miroku came rushing up, gasping and out of breath.  
  
"What did I miss?" he asked, slicking back his slightly damp-from-the- shower-hair.  
  
Sango rolled her eyes and shoved Miroku out of the way.  
  
"Hey, what did I do?" he questioned innocently.  
  
"You coming, noodle boy?" Inuyasha inquired, smirking.  
  
"You said you wouldn't tell!" Miroku wailed, a fresh set of bracelets clinking in protest as he ran after the trio.  
  
Sesshoumaru inspected the equipment manager's work and walked out to lock the door. He spotted someone dash off into the nearby woods.  
  
Was it that crazy girl from the library, Sesshoumaru found himself wondering. Was she watching me?  
  
Did he see me? Rin pondered. She leaned back against a tree and set her face into a look of determination. She would watch him for a while and try to discover what he liked, so she could repay him, sometime.  
  
Kouga lounged in his room, avoiding his friends. He had to get under Inuyasha's skin in a way that would not result in embarrassment for himself. He decided to "date" Kagome. Certainly she would say yes, since she agreed to sit in his box. He would keep up the charade as long as it made Inuyasha angry, and simply get rid of her once Inuyasha tired of her and moved on. It was a common enough theme for the West men, he had heard stories. Women came and went for the men in the West family-why would Inuyasha be any different? With that thought in mind, Kouga looked up Kagome's room number and waited for some one to pick up the phone. It rung twice.  
  
"Hello," she gasped, a bit out of breath.  
  
"Hello, Kagome. I'm sorry I didn't have a chance to thank you for coming to the match in person, but you left so quickly."  
  
"Oh, Kouga, that's okay. You did well today, I mean you and Inuyasha are well matched."  
  
"Yeah, win some, lose some," Kouga agreed, keeping up the friendly chitchat. "So, would you care to have dinner with me tonight? It could be my way of thanking you for your support."  
  
Kagome snorted internally; the support I didn't mean to give. "Um, well," she mulled over the decision in her mind. Perhaps if she went she could figure out if Kouga was actually trying to be nice or if he were setting her up for something. "Sure," she affirmed, deciding she would get to the bottom of his sudden interest in her. They agreed on a time and place. Kagome decided she would not tell Sango or the others; it would be a secret mission, of sorts.  
  
She walked back into Sango's room, where Miroku and Inuyasha were hanging out.  
  
"Who was it," Sango asked.  
  
"Oh, just a friend from my old school," she informed them. Miroku looked at her carefully, and then gave Inuyasha a side-glance to see if he had caught it. Nope. The oblivious moron was aimlessly flipping through Sango's CDs.  
  
"Well," Miroku stretched his back, "Inuyasha and I need to get going. We've got some plans to see to." Inuyasha stared at him. "Remember, Inuyasha? We're meeting some of your Long Island friends for dinner at Giovanni's." Miroku motioned for him to follow.  
  
"What, we're not invited," Sango pretended to be insulted.  
  
"Hey, it's a guy's night out." Miroku replied. Sango waved goodbye absently as they left.  
  
That's so odd, Kagome contemplated. That's the same restaurant Kouga's taking me to this evening. What a weird coincidence. Kagome wondered whom Inuyasha was meeting there.  
  
"Exactly who are we meeting there, Miroku?" Inuyasha implored sarcastically.  
  
"Listen, don't you think it's strange that Kagome talked so briefly with her friend?"  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "So?"  
  
"Trust me, girls never talk for so little! Especially when they haven't seen each other in a long time. I've studied the behavior of women intently, and she definitely was not speaking to a friend."  
  
"So what, Miroku? Maybe you should get a CAT Scan from falling into that dumpster."  
  
"I think she was talking to Kouga. Look, he's obviously interested in her, for some reason. You know he moves fast once he's met a girl. I bet he just called her and asked her out. He always goes to Giovanni's on the first date, so that's where we're going to spy on them!" Miroku finished triumphantly.  
  
Inuyasha looked skeptical.  
  
Miroku sighed, exasperated. "Look, Kouga lost face today, and he probably wants revenge. Do you really want Kagome to get caught up in this for no reason?"  
  
"If she agreed, it's her own doing! And how would going out with her get Kouga revenge on me?"  
  
Miroku just shook his head. Inuyasha might be the smartest in their class, but when it came to women, he was completely remedial. It was rather remarkable, considering his parentage.  
  
"Don't you at least want to find out why she said yes?"  
  
Little did Miroku know that Inuyasha had already decided to go. "Fine!" Inuyasha shouted, "I'll go, just stop pestering me!"  
  
Miroku lead Inuyasha down to their dorm, talking over the plan. Inuyasha was lost in thought, curious and slightly hurt about Kagome's alleged actions. Well, he would find out tonight.  
  
Seven thirty rolled around as Kagome put some finishing touches on her make- up. Her intercom rang and she picked up.  
  
"Hi, I'll be down in a second." She checked her reflection again and went out, sneaking past Sango's door.  
  
Outside, Kouga was in a designer casual suit, holding a bouquet of sterling roses. He opened the car door for Kagome and climbed in himself.  
  
Half an hour later, as the valet parked the car, Kouga led Kagome into an exquisite restaurant. He pulled out Kagome's chair for her himself, sending the waiter for a wine list.  
  
He is polite, Kagome noticed, although she was somewhat distracted, trying to locate Inuyasha and Miroku. Unbeknownst to her, they were sitting behind her to the left. Inuyasha caught site of her first.  
  
"There they are," he nudged Miroku, who was staring at a pretty waitress.  
  
"Good, their position is perfect. We can easily crouch below that tree arrangement behind the table and eavesdrop. I'll go first, then you follow at my command."  
  
"Thanks agent Miroku," Inuyasha mordantly replied. He stabbed violently at his filet mignon. "This is stupid, she's obviously here because she likes him." He grumbled sullenly, forgetting his food and scraping his utensils against the rim of the plate.  
  
"Just wait," Miroku commanded and got up, careful not to let Kouga or Kagome see. He stepped behind the potted trees and listened.  
  
"-so how's your appetizer?" Kouga was in the process of asking.  
  
"Fine, thank you." Kagome shifted in her seat, crossing and uncrossing her legs. "Kouga, why did you ask me here?" she said, suddenly decisive. She wanted to figure him out right away, so she could spend the rest of her time scouring for Inuyasha.  
  
What should I tell her? Kouga asked himself. She seemed pretty smart, so maybe he could tell her the truth and she would agree with him. Or maybe, he reasoned, he could put a positive spin on the whole thing.  
  
"Well, you see Kagome, Inuyasha is a dear comrade and teammate of mine, and I want him to do his best for our team. I figured a little competitive spirit outside the ring would do him some good." He smiled, foolishly thinking he had been clever.  
  
"Oh," Kagome replied brightly, "So you're using me to get to him?"  
  
Kouga smiled. Hey, she gets it! Maybe hanging around her won't be so bad after all. Maybe she can help me come up with some better plans.  
  
"Yep," he responded.  
  
Kagome threw her chair back so fast, it hit the potted trees, which promptly fell over onto Miroku, who was too engrossed in the conversation to realize what was happening. He let out a muffled scream and floundered about on the floor of the restaurant, swallowing potting soil and cursing profusely. Kagome failed to notice this, as she aimed her open palm at Kouga's face. He had jumped up, meanwhile, to help whoever was beneath the trees, and missed Kagome's swing, which caused her to almost fall face first into her soup.  
  
She straightened up and was about to haul Kouga back into place to deliver her slap, when she thought better of it.  
  
"Excuse me, Kouga, I'll be back." She went off in search of the ladies room, still unaware of the havoc she had instigated.  
  
Inuyasha watched the numerous waiters making feeble attempts to free Miroku from the mess of trees and soil. Kouga had gone back to his seat and was waiting for Kagome, not realizing it was Miroku trapped under the foliage.  
  
"Idiots," Inuyasha grumbled. Why was everyone in his life an idiot? He got up to see where Kagome had gone.  
  
He made a circle of the restaurant, and still did not see her.  
  
Kagome had composed herself and exited the restroom. Where was Inuyasha? She had checked the tables nearby, but did not notice that familiar white- like hair. She walked around the restaurant, still not seeing him. Inuyasha walked around again, getting annoyed. People eating were beginning to stare.  
  
Inuyasha stopped near the spilled plants, pissed he could not find Kagome. And he did not know where Miroku went off to, either. Idiots.  
  
Kagome was angrily making her way towards Kouga again. She could not find Inuyasha, and she needed to get back to her current situation and give her "date" the royal sendoff. Suddenly she bumped into someone. She looked up and was shocked to see Inuyasha.  
  
"Where have you been?" They simultaneously asked.  
  
"What? I mean-" they both stumbled. "Stop it!" Again in unison.  
  
"Kagome!" Kouga called out to her.  
  
She walked over, grabbed his chardonnay and dumped it right over his head. "Leave me out of your revenge, Kouga," she snapped. "And as for you, Inuyasha, drive me home!" She stomped out of the restaurant, waiters jumping out of her way as she passed.  
  
Miroku, still rather grubby, walked up, observing a dripping Kouga and Inuyasha who were staring after Kagome.  
  
"That's quite a woman," Miroku murmured in awe. Inuyasha and Kouga nodded, wordlessly.  
  
  
  
Author's notes: Well, Kagome seems to have herself some new admirers, eh? ^_^ Next chapter will feature . . karaoke? Read to find out.  
  
CHALLENGE TIME: Another one of Rumiko Takahashi's characters says the same line Rin said to Sesshoumaru (her very first words to him) in Ranma ½. Who was it?  
  
REVIEW please! Make me happy . . you know you want to. 


	8. Fame

Playgrounds of the Mind  
  
Chapter Eight: Fame  
  
[Disclaimer: Inuyasha, "Everlasting Love" and "Move it like this" do not belong to me]  
  
Author's notes: Wow! I got so many reviews right away! Thank you so much! ^_^ Especially to my reviewers who review every chapter-your input is very important to me. Keep up the good work!  
  
CHALLENGE ANSWER: Yes, it was Akane who said those words to Happosai when he was ill from an unlucky arrangement of the stars. Congrats to those who guessed right!  
  
Akane: oh no! Oh no! Don't die, don't die!  
  
Happosai: (jumps up and crushes himself to Akane's chest) Akane you saved me!  
  
Akane: (smacks him down) Glad you're feeling better. (Rushes out of room to poison the rest of the family)  
  
Hee hee, too funny! In a way, I see a softer side of Akane in Rin. And a slightly harder side in Kagome!  
  
Well, on with the story! And next challenge at the end, as usual.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Sango could not believe Kagome's evening. Her eyes grew wide and she gasped for breath more than was necessary. At the end she finally burst into peals of laughter.  
  
"You're not angry, are you, Sango?" Kagome bit her bottom lip.  
  
"Only that you didn't let me come too! Why am I always missing the best interactions between you and Inuyasha? And how could I miss Miroku drowning in potting soil? Now that's unacceptable!" The girls laughed helplessly some more.  
  
Sango became serious again. "Kagome, I need to warn you about something. Tomorrow is the first day of class, and as luck would have it, we're going to have Psychology first thing in the morning with Professor Chopin."  
  
"Um, how is that bad?"  
  
"Oh Kagome, you naïve girl. Professor Chopin is insane. She comes up with the worst and most embarrassing assignments, because she believes that humility brings out the id of the soul, or some such crap. It should be illegal under medical malpractice!"  
  
"Embarrassing assignments?" Kagome questioned.  
  
"Yes, and they're usually all in class, so everyone can see. And I saw the roster for our class. Every jerk's in it. I mean, everyone: Kagura, Yura, Kouga, Hiten, and upperclassmen and a bunch of freshman too. It's a big mix. I think I remember seeing Sesshoumaru's name up there too." She shuddered.  
  
"What's the worst that could happen?" Kagome had to ask.  
  
"Lets just say that last year, Chopin encouraged Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru to battle to the death. And in class too, so she could grade it!" Sango rubbed her arms in a comforting manner.  
  
"And we have this class three times a week," Kagome added. Sango groaned louder. She got up and retrieved something from under her bed.  
  
"Kagome, these are good luck charms I fashioned to protect against her insanity." She paused melodramatically. "I want you to have one."  
  
"Thanks Sango," Kagome said, touched.  
  
"You'd better make some too," Sango advised, clutching her charm box.  
  
  
  
Next morning, early enough to still be semi-dark, Kagome sat up abruptly and tried to stop the wail of her alarm clock. She moaned in agitation and got up to get ready. She and Sango met in the dinning hall to eat a quick breakfast.  
  
"Did you bring your charm?"  
  
"Yep," Kagome affirmed.  
  
"Let's hope they work."  
  
"Oh lord, are you still doing that?" Miroku asked incredulously. "You've been trying that for the past two years, and it does absolutely nothing!"  
  
"Yeah, it probably brings on more bad luck!" Inuyasha grumbled. He was clearly not looking forward to a class with his brother and best enemy.  
  
"That's true. Give me that," he reached for the charm. Sango simply got up and let Miroku crash unceremoniously to the floor.  
  
"Miroku has absolutely no coordination in the morning," she instructed Kagome.  
  
The four classmates made their way to class, dragging their feet the entire way.  
  
Kagome looked at the classroom in appreciation. It was state of the art, as was everything here. A large glass façade tempted the students with the freedom of the outdoors. She and Sango chose seats in the third row; Miroku and Inuyasha sat behind them. Other students filed in. Sango and Kagura exchanged death looks. Kouga and Inuyasha exchanged similar looks. Then Kouga and Kagura glared at each other.  
  
This atmosphere is terrible, Kagome thought. It was so charged, she was sure if there were a sudden storm outside, lightning would strike the room. Seconds later, a middle-aged woman walked in. She smoothed her brown bob and put down her briefcase. She regarded the students as a cat would regard a mouse caught in a corner. She smiled primly.  
  
"Everyone, get up now, you have assigned seats." The students shuffled to the side of the room.  
  
"And it begins," Miroku sighed. Inuyasha glumly stared out the window. It was beginning to look gray outside.  
  
Professor Chopin read off the names of the students, rapping a desk where each would sit for the semester. Inuyasha found himself sandwiched between Kouga and Sesshoumaru. He huffed angrily and sat rigidly in his seat, staring ahead, his eyes boring a hole into the dry erase board. Sesshoumaru and Kouga followed a similar routine, of ignoring their neighbors. Sango, Kagura and Kagome ended up in that order, with Rin on the end. Kagome noticed Kanna and the freshman she remembered, Shippou, behind them, along with others she did not recognize. Sango spotted her brother across the room and waved quickly.  
  
Well, most of the people I know so far are here, Kagome figured, so it can't be that bad. She looked over to Sango who was seething at Kagura's upturned nose. Or not, Kagome concluded.  
  
Professor Chopin walked up to the front and started plugging something in. It looked suspiciously like the karaoke machines Kagome remembered from popular hangouts back home.  
  
"To begin our learning this semester," the teacher spoke, "we will discover the means to freeing ourselves from inhibitions."  
  
Inuyasha and Sango paled, but Miroku seemed to be interested. He sat forward in his seat, in front of Inuyasha's row, next to Hiten and Yura.  
  
"Famous singers often have no inhibitions," the teacher continued, "so we will be attempting to free ourselves similarly, by singing, in pairs and later, solo." She took out some papers and distributed them.  
  
Miroku now paled to match Sango and Inuyasha. Kouga and Rin did not look so good either; Sesshoumaru wore a mask of detachment as usual. Kagome did not know what to think or feel.  
  
"Students, look over these songs I've chosen. Feel free to speak to one another for a few minutes while I continue to set up the equipment. In a flurry of movement, the classroom was in flux, with students rushing over to their friends to complain, the songs entirely forgotten.  
  
Miroku reached the girls first, and he took Kagura's empty seat. "Your damn charms caused this!" He glared at Sango. "Give them up!" He reached over and grabbed one from Sango's hand, desperately trying to free it. She pulled back and pummeled his with her other hand.  
  
"Stop it, Miroku! Are you crazy?" She demanded, safely tucking her charm away.  
  
"Yes! She's trying to make us all mad! She wants us to become her next patients in the school's mental ward!"  
  
"There are enough psychos in this room already," Inuyasha observed. "She doesn't need all of us." Kagome giggled lightly at this.  
  
"Sure, you're laughing now," Miroku warned. "But she'll get the last laugh. She always does."  
  
Inuyasha tried to study the sheet. "What kind of crap is on here, anyway?"  
  
At that moment the professor motioned for the students to take their assigned seats once more. She looked over her charts.  
  
"Let's see, first up we'll have Mr. West the younger, and . . . " she let her eyes wander over the room, and noticed Kagome staring at Inuyasha out of the corner of her eyes. "and Ms. Higurashi. You'll sing the first duet on the list." She popped a CD into the player. "Inuyasha, your lines will be in blue, Kagome, yours will be in yellow. Any questions?"  
  
Kagome had not moved from her seat, frozen in fear. Inuyasha looked at the window as if he wanted to jump out of it, four stories up or not.  
  
"Well, come now. Don't be shy," the teacher smiled, as if pleased with herself. "This is exactly what I was talking about, releasing our inhibitions."  
  
"Our inhibitions," Kagome hissed to Sango, "she's not singing anything!" Sango gave her a sympathetic look and rubbed her charm furiously, wishing for better luck for herself.  
  
Kagome shakily got up and made her way to the front. Inuyasha slinked out of his chair and sauntered over, whispering into her ear.  
  
"Look, let's give this our best shot, or else we'll never live it down," he instructed. He nudged her arm and she nodded, tensely.  
  
They stood facing each other, so that they could both still see the karaoke screen, where the words would be shown. Momentarily, the title appeared.  
  
Everlasting Love.  
  
What, Inuyasha choked internally. He had not had a chance to read the paper before now. He put a confident look on his face for Kagome's sake, so she would not pass out or something.  
  
The music began and Kagome's heart seemed to thump harder and harder until she could not hear anything but the blood rushing in her ears.  
  
The first words appear, in blue.  
  
Inuyasha took a deep breath. "Hearts go astray, leaving hurt when they go/ I went away just when you needed me so"  
  
Kagome saw the next two were in yellow, and she too took a deep breath. "Filled with regret, I come back, begging you/ Forgive, forget, where's the love we once knew"  
  
Then the chorus came up. The lines were in both colors, so Inuyasha and Kagome figured they were both supposed to sing. "Open up your eyes, then you'll realize  
  
/ Here I stand with my everlasting love"  
  
  
  
Inuyasha sang again, "Need you by my side, girl to be my bride  
  
/ You'll never be denied everlasting love"  
  
  
  
Then it was Kagome's turn, "From the very start, open up your heart  
  
/ Be a lasting part of everlasting love"  
  
The next lines were in blue again. Inuyasha took a more relaxed stance and looked directly at Kagome as he delivered his lines, "Where life's river flow, no one really knows/ Till someone's there to show the way to lasting love"  
  
Kagome noted the upcoming yellow lines and similarly squared her shoulders and looked at Inuyasha. "Like the sun that shines, endlessly it shines/ You always will be mine, it's eternal love"  
  
Inuyasha flipped the microphone to his other hand in a showy manner and sang, "When other loves are gone, ours will still be strong/ We have our very own everlasting love"  
  
Kagome was beginning to feel braver and she too decided to show off some. She shook her head, throwing back her hair and launched more forcefully into her lines, "Open up your eyes, then you'll realize/ Here I stand with my everlasting love"  
  
Inuyasha took the cue from her and continued to sing directly to her, but at the same time putting the whole thing on display for the class. "Need you by my side, girl to be my bride/ You'll never be denied everlasting love"  
  
The two circled each other masterfully, keeping to the beat and came to stand where the other had just stood. Kagome sang her lines to artfully overlap Inuyasha's last, "From the very start, open up your heart/ Be a lasting part of everlasting love"  
  
They sang the chorus together, managing to share the lines yet make each one seem like it was personal. As Inuyasha was singing his last few words, he got down on one knee and took Kagome's outstretched hand into his own. He held it, staring into her face as she sang. When she came to a finish he lightly kissed the top of her knuckles. Kagome blushed furiously and did a little curtsy to her partner.  
  
"Well done," Professor Chopin said, startling the two who had somehow forgotten everyone else in the room. The duet partners looked around the room. Miroku seemed shocked and seemed frozen in his seat. Sango similarly had her jaw hanging open, her charm drooping loosely from her fingers. Rin was smiling fondly, as were a few of the other freshman. Kouga seemed somehow upset, although he tried to look smug, as if he were going to tease Inuyasha later. Sesshoumaru simply looked bored, although his eyes betrayed a sense of displeasure for having to even be in the same room as everyone else. Kagura and Yura both seemed a bit smitten, but covered it up with a look of arrogance or distance.  
  
"You both managed to become much looser towards the end. I'm sure you can both do as well for the solos."  
  
Inuyasha rose up and scoffed, "Heh. Not like it was challenging." The professor instructed the two to return to their seats. Inuyasha slid as far as he could go into his, crossing his arms and staring straight ahead. Kagome barely made it to her seat before she collapsed into it.  
  
Sango leaned over Kagura, who tried to fend her off. Sango simply ignored her silent glares. "Kagome," she hissed, "that was great! You sounded good, that wasn't embarrassing at all!"  
  
What was she talking about, Kagome gasped. She felt that her head would explode any minute. She looked over to the other side of the room. Inuyasha would not meet her eyes, and the way Kouga was staring at her. . . She shivered, and realized she was actually covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Trying to take her mind off of her discomfort, Kagome turned her attention to the professor again. The teacher had launched herself into a discussion of Inuyasha's and Kagome's body language, and other things. Kagome simply wanted to die. She sat for a good fifteen minutes, shakily running her pen over the same line in her notebook, over and over again until she had poked through to the other side.  
  
"All right, enough of that," Professor Chopin decreed, looking to her notes again.  
  
Finally, Inuyasha thought, slowly releasing a sigh. He had gone into partial meditation, trying to drown out her awful voice. What was Kagome thinking, he wondered, but he did not dare look. When is it going to be Sess's turn?, he snickered to himself. Now that would make up for his having to go first. Even better if Sesshoumaru sang a duet with Kouga. The thought almost made him laugh out loud.  
  
Sango found herself rather jealous. I bet Miroku could never sing that way to me, she thought. Then she slapped herself mentally. What kind of though was that? The gods would curse her for sure, now! She was doomed. She would be paired up with Miroku, she just knew it. She wanted to scream but kept herself in check. She purposefully knocked over Kagura's book with her elbow, anything to extract a little steam. Kagura gave her a death glare and bent to retrieve her book.  
  
"Okay, I think Mr. Monk will be next."  
  
Sango felt the blood drain out of her face. It was coming true! She looked around for a distraction, desperately wondering if she could knock one of the overhead lamps off of its post and let in smack Kagura in the head. Medical emergencies usually took up a lot of time.  
  
"Now we'll hear a solo to break up our analysis a bit," the teacher informed the class.  
  
Sango's relief was almost audible, and she slouched across her desk, strangely feeling dehydrated. She quickly snatched up her lucky charm and kissed it passionately. Kagura stared at her, dumbstruck by the other's strange behavior. Sango turned her face to the wall. Kagura made a mental note to ask Professor Chopin for a seat change.  
  
Miroku was now at the head of the room, looking at the paper he was given. He glanced up and gave Sango a wink.  
  
Why . . . ?, she trailed off, feeling a new worry taking hold and crushing her cerebrum.  
  
The class stared at the screen and Miroku launched into his song, evidently liking the one he got. The chorus was sung by the original songwriters, but Miroku enjoyed yelling them out anyway. "Can you move it like this? I can shake it like that/ Can you move it like this? I can shake it like that/ Can you move it like this? I can shake it like that/ C'mon ladies rock the party Shake your body everybody!"  
  
Miroku made full use of the stage area, flaunting moves and acting very much like a pop star.  
  
"C'mon everybody/ Let's move it all night/ Let's take it back to the old school/ Can you feel the vibe yeah/ Just dance to the rhythm and let me/ See ya wind your waistline/ Jump back and the do the twist/ And the electric slide yeah!" Miroku imitated the dances he was singing, twisting and then doing the electric slide.  
  
The eighties live, Inuyasha smirked to himself. Watching Miroku completely make a food of himself was not as funny as it would be if it were Kouga or Sesshoumaru, but it was better than nothing. Inuyasha began to enjoy the show, deciding to record it. He pulled out a mini-video camera and started committing the act to permanent film. He figured he could sell this to Sango, or blackmail Miroku.  
  
Miroku meanwhile, was in full force, "Remember back in the day/ When we used to dance the Boogaloo/ Everybody used to rock the beat/ Solid Gold kickin' up too/ And everybody rock together with the DJ when he plays/ Smooth music is kickin' clippin'/ We rush back and we keep dippin'." He grinned and masterfully slid across the room on his knees, coming up just short of Sango's desk. "C'mon baby let's rock let's rock," he crooned, proffering a hand to Sango. She tried, in turn, to keep from kicking him. It was so tempting.  
  
Shrugging his shoulders at her demeanor, he jumped up again and went over to Yura. "We gonna get up on the dance floor and do the Pee wee Herman/ So shake it up/ And do the bus stop," he motioned for Yura to join him. She smiled alluringly and ran her ankle up against his leg. Sango nearly burst out of her seat. By now, everyone in the class was cheering and egging the two on. Sango wanted to stand up and scream at everybody to shut up.  
  
Why isn't he embarrassed? Sango could not figure it out. By all means, he should finish his song by jumping out the window and ending it all. I mean, she though hard, I'm embarrassed for him, it's so bad! But why? A smaller voice asked. Is it because you see him as your potential boyfriend, and his embarrassing escapades become yours? My god, Sango thought, Professor Chopin really was making her crazy. Already, she had kissed a lucky charm, attempted to cause bodily harm to Kagura (not really so out of the ordinary, but still), gotten jealous over nothing, and now was having a conversation with a voice in her head. A crazy voice on top of that! Sango groaned, letting her head fall into her crossed arms on her desk. Maybe she could convince the headmaster to let her transfer to another class, for health reasons.  
  
Miroku finished his song with a flourish, "Yeah New York! You're beautiful! I love you!" He wiped his brow and went to sit in his seat. He gave Inuyasha, Kagome and Sango the thumbs up sign. Inuyasha shut off his recorder and carefully hid it away. The students were cheering and clapping energetically. The guys yelled out congratulations to Miroku.  
  
"That was excellent, Miroku," the professor smiled. "We'll have to find you an equally talented partner for the duet."  
  
I'm not talented, I'm not talented, Sango chanted to herself, her hands finding their way to her charm again, although now she did not know if it were cursed or lucky or a bit of both.  
  
Thankfully the bell sounded, and class was over. Everyone gathered his or her possessions. Professor Chopin yelled out to read chapter two of their Modern Psychology textbook.  
  
"I hope it's the chapter that discusses the signs for when someone needs to commit themselves," Sango mumbled to no one in particular. She hoped the voice would not answer.  
  
"Miroku-" Sango began when he drew near, but was cut off.  
  
"Hey, man, not too shabby."  
  
"Inuyasha!" Sango wailed, "don't encourage him!"  
  
"Miroku, you were wonderful!"  
  
"Kagome! Not you too!" Sango sobbed, "He was awful, I was so embarrassed I couldn't breathe!"  
  
"Why were you embarrassed?" Kagome innocently inquired.  
  
"You didn't see the show she put on all by herself," Kagura muttered as she pushed past the four friends.  
  
"Huh?" Inuyasha watched her go. "What was she talking about?"  
  
Sango just hung her head. "I give up," she sighed. She trudged after the other three, on their way to their next class, vowing to throw out all her CDs so that she would never hear music again.  
  
  
  
Author's Endnotes: Well, there you go, karaoke! Poor Sango, I wonder if they even make headache medicine strong enough for that. But the singing isn't over yet! That's right there's more! BWUhaha! But it's not the same kind of situation. . stay tuned for the next twisted installment.  
  
CHALLENGE: Why is this chapter called "fame"? There are probably lots of different responses you guys can come up with, so I'll be waiting in anticipation to hear some of your great ideas! ^_^  
  
REVIEW please! Did you like the songs? Hated them? Let me know! 


	9. Reflections and Recollections

Playgrounds of the Mind  
  
Chapter Nine: Reflections and Recollections  
  
[Disclaimer: Inuyasha and "Annie" do not belong to me.]  
  
Author's Notes: Everyone said so many nice things! * blushes * Thanks for the reviews! CX-Chan, are you Russian by any chance? My cousin's name is Xenja. Just curious. Inuyasha selling the tape to MTV! That's genius, maybe he should do that, eh? ^_^ Yep, food should be fool. Oops! Thanks for pointing it out. Hmmm, lots of people want the characters to dance . . and they will! Well, not in the way most of my readers suggested, but it will be even funnier . . .a musical! Hehe.  
  
CHALLENGE ANSWER: Anyone seen the movie "Fame"? It's about a Performing Arts School with really colorful characters. The kids dance on the tables during lunch hour. ^_^ Somehow, I think Miroku will have to keep his dance moves to himself, ne?  
  
  
  
  
  
The rest of the day seemed to go by in a blur. After all, Organic Chemistry and Multi-Variable Calculus are just plain boring in comparison to Professor Chopin's torture-session, er, class. Inuyasha and Miroku met up with the girls for dinner. Kagome came in animatedly talking to a freshman with sandy-red colored hair.  
  
"Hey guys," she greeted, "this is Shippou Fox, he was in our Psychology class, although with your performance, Miroku, I'm not surprised if no one had a chance to meet new students!"  
  
Shippou waved to the little group. Miroku and Sango smiled amicably. Inuyasha, on the other hand, seemed to glower slightly.  
  
"What do we need with a freshman?" he questioned.  
  
"Inuyasha, we should have as many friends as possible," Kagome reproached. "In a school like this, having friends is the only thing that keeps someone sane, I'm being to see. Shippou is new; we should try to make him feel comfortable." Shippou nodded emphatically behind her. Inuyasha turned his nose up.  
  
"I already know him. Or at least of him." He looked at the underclassman out of the corner of his eye. "My dad was a client of your dad's firm, right?"  
  
Shippou nodded affirmatively. "Yeah, uh, sorry to hear about your dad."  
  
"You too," Inuyasha added after a moment. Shippou looked down, biting his lower lip. Kagome had a concerned look on her face. Their fathers are both . . dead? She thought to herself. It's not just me, then . . .  
  
The five students sat down to eat. Inuyasha was in a pensive mood, lazily shifting food around on his plate, not really tasting anything. Shippou seemed to have lost his chipper attitude as well. They ate in silence almost, except for the few pleasantries Sango or Kagome spoke.  
  
"I guess we're all tired," Miroku stated. "We should all just retire and try to get our homework done before midnight!" He smiled weakly. Kagome shuddered.  
  
They departed, the boys slouching off to their dorm, the girls, walking somewhat more properly, to theirs.  
  
  
  
  
  
The next morning, Sango slumped out of bed, still trying to fathom how she was supposed to take any more of Miroku singing, with or without her. She stumbled over to her desk, still in the dark, and turned on her computer, praying for some kind of overnight miracle that would prevent her from going to class, like needing immediate triple bypass surgery.  
  
Her prayers, strangely enough, were answered. An email reported that Ms. Davis was to report to the front of the school instead of normal classes, for the Academy's semi-annual community service.  
  
"Yes!!" She cried out gleefully, running out into the hallway in only her nightshirt, banging on Kagome's door to share her good news.  
  
The other girl opened her door, eyes filled with panic. "Where's the fire?! Is there a bomb threat?"  
  
"No, no Kagome, I just wanted to tell you that I won't be in classes today! I have community service requirements today!"  
  
"You mean I have to suffer by myself?"  
  
Sango's jubilance subsided a bit. "Oh, I forgot about your plight. Oh, Kagome, you poor thing! But wait, maybe you got service duty today too?"  
  
The two girls rushed to Kagome's computer to check her mail. Even more good luck, as Kagome had been called too. Sango beamed at her friend. The two rushed to get ready.  
  
This is almost like a field trip, Kagome thought as she washed her hair. She felt less stressful already.  
  
The girls grabbed a quick breakfast and went out to meet in the stated place. What they saw made their mouths drop open.  
  
Scowling, Inuyasha stood near Miroku. To their right stood Kouga with some of his buddies, and Sesshoumaru. Behind them, milling about were the freshman Shippou, Kanna, Rin, and a few others unknown to Kagome. Kagura, Yura, Hiten and Manten were there as well. Sango exchanged a glance with Kagome.  
  
"Feh. This might as well be our Psychology class!" Inuyasha spat angrily, glaring off in Kouga's direction.  
  
Miroku seemed to light up when he saw the girls approaching. "Well, now the whole gang's together."  
  
"Yeah, if you mean 'gang' as in 'snake pit'," the pale-haired boy complained.  
  
"Oh, Inuyasha, I didn't realize you disliked my presence so much," Kagome teased, although there was a bit of hurt, hidden somewhere in her words.  
  
"It's not you," he replied, somewhat chastised, "it's all the bastards from our classes."  
  
"So, anyone know our destination this year?" Sango questioned the group at large.  
  
"It's the Orphanage on 53rd street," Kouga off-handedly replied. His gaze darkened.  
  
Inuyasha also let his eyes drop. Shippou followed suite, and Kagome noticed that Rin, Kanna, Kohaku and Kagura had fallen silent. Miroku and Sango seemed to sigh heavily exactly at the same moment. Sango's eyes drifted to her brother's and volumes of unspoken words seemed to flow between them.  
  
What?, Kagome mused, troubled. Certainly the Orphanage isn't the happiest place on earth, but such a response . . . it's as if everyone's taken it personally. Her thoughts turned to Souta, and her mother and grandfather, and . . .father. She shook off the feelings of sadness and tried to put a less depressing look on her face.  
  
A man appeared, holding a clipboard. He took a roll call and described their destination and what they would be expected to do. "The directors of the Orphanage will meet us and tell each of you your specific tasks." He gave them each a nametag and ushered them onto the Academy's bus for such occasions.  
  
Kagome was one of the last students on the bus. She noticed Kagura sitting with her sister. Kohaku, Rin and Shippou were sitting together across the wide bench at the very back, all three already seeming like the best of friends, speaking vivaciously to one another. Kouga and his friends congregated around two seats, playing cards. Yura sat with Hiten, who didn't seem to mind her at all, although Manten looked on, somewhat jealously. Sesshoumaru sat alone, with an unreadable mask drawn on his face, staring impassively ahead. Inuyasha and Miroku were arguing about something. Sango smiled at her and patted the seat next to her.  
  
"Finally, I've got someone to talk to, instead of listening to those two quibble," Sango said. Kagome returned the smile and joined her friend.  
  
Kagome watched the streets of the city, avidly taking everything in. Sango pointed out some interesting sites. The bus pulled up to a non-descript gray building and released the students. A representative met them at the doors. Apparently the school had donated some toys, and the sweet-natured representative asked the group to hand out the gifts first, and spend some time with the kids.  
  
Kagome grinned, happy to do some good deeds. The other girls seemed excited too, even Kagura and Yura, who acted like severely spoiled princesses most of the time, appeared willing to offer a hand.  
  
Everyone grabbed a sack and walked down the hall to a large playroom. The little kids hung back at first, surveying the crowd of new people who had just arrived. Inuyasha stepped forward, as usual, losing his temper.  
  
"Hey, don't you brats want this stuff?" He shook the bag he was carrying out onto the floor. The children of the Orphanage rushed forward, oooing and ahhing.  
  
"What's your name?" A little girl inquired of Inuyasha.  
  
"Eh? It's Inuyasha."  
  
"Thank you Uncle Inuyasha!" she yelled. The other kids took their cue from her, and ran up, shouting.  
  
"Thank you, Uncle Inuyasha!" they chorused. They flung themselves about him, logging him down.  
  
"Ack! Someone help me," he yelped, falling underneath the sea of little bodies. "Miroku! Sango!" he shouted, muffled somewhat.  
  
Miroku stepped forward tentatively. "Uh, where are you, exactly?" He looked under a large teddy bear. Nope, not there. He let his sack slip in concentration, and the children were upon the new haul.  
  
"Thank you, Uncle Miroku!" A new cheer went up, and Miroku was similarly swallowed by happy kids. The others walked into the room, trying not to trip and go under. The content shrieks and thanks continued for a good while. Kagome gladly helped some little girls free their dolls from the plastic casing. She looked up, wondering if Inuyasha were still alive. She met Kouga's gaze. He was staring at her from across the crowed and wrapping paper-strewn room, a wolfish grin plastered across his features. Kagome gulped and went in search of Sango. She made a round of the room, and spotted Inuyasha out in the hallway. She stepped out to join him.  
  
"Whew," she commented, "quite a room, eh?"  
  
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Yeah."  
  
"What are you doing out here?"  
  
"Came out for some air."  
  
"Oh." Why is he so clothed-mouth today, Kagome wondered.  
  
An attendant walked by. "What else can we do?" Inuyasha barked out, folding his arms against his chest and lifting his head, so that his beautiful hair cascaded down his back in waves. Kagome had to resist reaching out and stroking it. In the mood he's in, I doubt he'd take to that well, she thought.  
  
"Um, well, if you don't want to spend more time with the children," the Orphanage employee put a finger to her chin, "I suppose you could clean the stairwell. With the city-wide janitor strike, we've been short-handed around here, and the place could use some dusting and mopping."  
  
Even Kagome found that amusing. As if Inuyasha would clean anything. She doubt he even knew how to go about it.  
  
"Alright," he gruffly responded following the attendant to a utility closet and getting out a wringer and mop. Kagome stooped to pick up a pail and went to fill it in the little sink nearby.  
  
"Hey, Kagome," he started.  
  
Kagome blushed in anticipation, hoping he would complement her on how good she was with kids, or how she was helping him with the washing without even being asked. She was sorely mistaken.  
  
"What's this thing, anyway?" he waved the mop about. "I mean, is it for the walls, or the floor or what?"  
  
She sweat dropped and hung her head. "Oh, Inuyasha, just let me do it."  
  
Inuyasha was in deep thought, as he held the bucket for Kagome, moving along side her as she mopped the floor. The wood had been waxed and buffed recently, and the soapy water was making it very slippery. Inuyasha found himself absent-mindedly steadying Kagome every now and then, still holding the pail of water.  
  
His thoughts were tumultuous. This is the kind of place Sess and I would have ended up in, if we didn't have a huge inheritance and a bunch of servants hanging around. He sighed. These kids weren't as lucky, he reflected, if you could call having money lucky. Sometimes it seemed like a burden. It separated him from his brother, from what little family he had left. Sesshoumaru spent his days locked up in his wing of the house, and Inuyasha's in his; their paths hardly crossed, even at school. How have I grown up not even knowing my own brother? Inuyasha had to wonder. Didn't anybody stop and think it was wrong? Nobody looked out for us, not really, he worked out. I mean, they sent us to the best school and gave us the best of everything, but did that make us happy and taken care of? We hate each other like enemies. He winced internally at the word. My brother is my enemy.  
  
"Inuyasha, let's go up to the second floor landing," Kagome called, interrupting his thoughts. He complied, following her up the stairs.  
  
Sesshoumaru eyed Rin from across the playroom on his way out. That crazy girl keeps following me, even if she cannot help it, he thought. Why were all the forces throwing the two of them together? Wasn't Inuyasha bad enough to have to run into during the day, and at Kendo Club? Sesshoumaru made his way past the door and leaned against the wall right next to the first floor landing. He let his mind leave Rin behind and focus on Inuyasha. We're both orphans, money or not, he reflected. As much as I try to forget him and pretend it's only me, I know he's right there the whole time. Why don't I treat him better? Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes; he was always annoyed when his conscience asked him that question. He never had a response. His mother replaced Sesshoumaru's, but was that Inuyasha's fault? Inuyasha had, at least he felt he had, replaced Sesshoumaru as the apple of his father's eye. Had that been Inuyasha's fault as well? He had been scarcely two years old when their father passed away. I was almost five, I understood more than people thought. He did not remember his mother at all, only Inuyasha's mother. She too had passed away soon after. Inuyasha at least remembers his own mother, who loved him over all else. Sesshoumaru shifted his position, crossing one foot over the other and leaning back again. Many times in the past, he wanted to reach out to his stepmother, to let her love him too, but pride kept him back. Now she was gone, and he could not reach her. Inuyasha was probably a lost hope as well. He might have been young, but he surely remembered how cruel Sesshoumaru had been in the years after their father's death. Unbearable, really. Every time I wanted to be kind, it only came out as malice. It's just too late to start being compassionate-he would only see it as a weakness-I've trained him myself to see it that way. I walked down that path, and closed the gate behind me. I can never return.  
  
Suddenly, he heard someone on the stairs above him. He went up to investigate, trying to push the dismal thoughts from his mind.  
  
Shippou sat with Rin on a small couch in the room, listening to her soft voice. She had looked sad before, so he had come over. He did not even realize the nature of the conversation they had fallen into. It was one he rarely liked to talk about.  
  
"So, I've been living with my aunt ever since the accident," Rin continued. "I still think about them all the time. They really wanted me to come here, so I studied really hard . . it's all I could do after the funeral. I just lost interest in everything else."  
  
"Yeah," Shippou agreed quietly, "it was the same for me. First my mom and then my dad . . at least I didn't loose them both at the same time, though. It must have been tougher for you, Rin." He laid his hand warmly over her smaller one.  
  
She looked up and smiled. "Well, I hope we can be friends, Shippou! We've so much in common, already."  
  
"What's in common?" asked Kohaku, who had just walked over from speaking to his sister. He sat on the other side of Rin, leaning an elbow against the cushions.  
  
"We were discussing our parents," stated Shippou. He greatly valued the newfound friendship with this sophomore.  
  
"Oh, I see." Observing Rin's questioning stare, Kohaku supplied, "It's just my sister and my dad back home." She nodded, sympathetically.  
  
Rin suddenly rose, pulling both boys up by their arms. "Come on, lets see what else we can do around here," she said merrily.  
  
  
  
"Where do you suppose they're going?" Miroku asked Sango who had just finished braiding a little girl's hair.  
  
"Hmm?" She looked up, her eyes following the underclassmen. "Don't know."  
  
Miroku played with some of his bracelets, restlessly. "Are you thinking of your mom?"  
  
"Yeah," she sighed. "And you, thinking of your dad?" She straightened up, readjusting her uniform.  
  
He bent his head, studying the floor. "It's hard not to, in a place like this." Sango stared at his bent head in concern, her own loneliness forgotten. She, at least, had Kohaku at school. Apart from Inuyasha and herself, Miroku had never gotten very close to anyone in the years she had known him. She laid her hand on his upper arm.  
  
"Come on, let's go see where everybody went," noting the disappearance of most of her classmates. She gently pulled the boy out of his partial trance.  
  
  
  
Kagura was sitting on the steps of the first floor landing, running her fingers through Kanna's hair. It had always calmed the younger Helena when she was upset as a child.  
  
"You know, Kanna, you can tell me anything," Kagura reminded her. Their father was a harsh man who hated his daughters' inquisitive nature. He was always complaining, telling them to be silent and do only as he told. And he certainly had a lot of things for us to do, Kagura thought bitterly. She was surprised that he let them attend the boarding academy. Their father was accustomed to using his children to do his dirty work, not trusting any of his other henchmen and goons. Kagura thought back to when she was a little girl, how her father would coax her to bring a package to an "uncle" she had never heard of before, or to "hide" something in her room. She was always the unfortunate barer of his secrets. He treated her more like an ally in a war, or a spy, then a daughter. He put Kanna to work as well. And their brother . . she trailed off, tears threatening to spill over her darkly outlined eyelids. No, she wouldn't think of his death, his death at their father's arrogant and hasty-made plans. Things had gone terribly wrong that day . . and Naraku just shrugged it off, like any simple bad thing, like a dish breaking. Naraku. Yes, from now on she would no longer call him father. Neither should Kanna. She bent down to look into her sister's face. She had grown so quiet over the last few years, especially after the funeral. Detached from the world, Kagura feared her little sister would become fully catatonic one day. She fiercely wished for their mother, or even a memory of her, but of course there were none. Naraku had completely erased her existence from their household, from their very minds. She did the right thing, to leave him, Kagura thought viciously; one day, so will I. Kanna and I will go someplace where he will never find us. I won't be some pawn in his master chess game anymore, she resolved. If only I knew where mother went, so I could go to her.  
  
Kagura felt someone's eyes on her, and looked up to see Kouga standing across the hall. His head was bent quizzically to the side. She narrowed her eyes out of sheer routine and asked him curtly what he wanted.  
  
"Nothing, just thinking." He scuffed his shoe against the other one.  
  
"About what," Kanna inquired, surprising Kagura and Kouga both, who had though she had spaced out.  
  
"It's just, I see your sister on campus every vacation." He looked up at Kagura. "Why don't you ever go home?" He seemed almost reproachful, "I mean, you have a home to go back to, not like me."  
  
"You don't know anything about my father," Kagura snapped. "His 'home' is my prison, and-" she cut off violently. What was she doing, telling Kouga all of this? "Who are you to even ask?" she demanded.  
  
Kouga glared back at her from the bottom of the stairs. "You're just being so cold and removed as always. I thought someone who had a family would be kinder to those who don't. If you didn't want to come to the orphanage, you could have requested to be waitlisted on the next community service project," he huffed angrily. "I mean, everyone did their part--"  
  
"Who everyone? If you haven't noticed, most of our classmates are nowhere to be found," she retorted.  
  
"They hung around longer than you."  
  
"You know, Kouga, I think you just wanted to pick on someone, and since Inuyasha isn't around, your eyes landed on me, so if you'll--"  
  
"What?" he yelled, his eyes blazing. His shoulders slumped a bit, as his angry come back seemed to die in his throat, unspoken. "It's not like any of you would understand," he muttered at last.  
  
"Oh, really? I just told you I didn't have a real family. And Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's parents are dead. A lot of people in this school have wealth and power but no real love, so don't be so quick to set your tortured soul apart," she hissed, rising from her perch. She gestured for Kanna to follow her up the stairs, where she had heard some voices drift down before. She was half way up the stairs when she heard:  
  
"Kagura, I'm sorry." He stuttered for a moment. "I guess I was looking for someone to lay my burden on."  
  
Strangely, Kagura felt her animosity drain away. In all the years she had known Kouga, she had never heard that softness to his voice, usually so full of superciliousness.  
  
She turned about. "I think everyone's upstairs for some reason," she said, as a way of accepting his apology. "We might as well go join them."  
  
"Yeah," Kouga smirked. "I haven't picked on the half-demon all day, I'm beginning to go into withdrawal." He walked after Kagura, who could not see that his face had once again become somber. He never knew that about Inuyasha. He had not realized how similar his situation was to his rival's. Is everyone in our school an orphan, he had to wonder.  
  
  
  
Kagome and Inuyasha had cleaned half the second story when everyone seemed to congregate at the same time.  
  
"Hey look," Inuyasha said to everyone, holding out the mop, "I'm cleaning the floor with this thing-it's not that bad." Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at this. Kouga seemed skeptical as well.  
  
Kagome rolled her eyes; hadn't these people ever seen a mop before? "If you guys want to help, there are more mops and buckets downstairs," Kagome offered. To her surprise, everyone wandered down stairs and came back with various cleaning devices.  
  
"Um, Kouga, I think that's a vacuum cleaner," Kagome said.  
  
"So isn't like an electric mop?"  
  
"Hey, if it's electric, I want one too," Shippou chimed in.  
  
"You can't use that on wood," Kagome quickly said, before a brawl broke out. "Maybe you could look around for some rags or something." Wow, Kagome thought, if someone told me I would one day be supervising a bunch of rich snobs on cleaning, I would have just laughed myself to death. This is something I can definitely put on my resume, she giggle to herself.  
  
Soon, everyone was clumsily attempting to clean a part of the stairs. Inuyasha, apparently thinking himself second in command, walked around criticizing everyone's work. "You're not doing it right," he told Sesshoumaru.  
  
His brother just looked at him. "What makes you an expert, Inuyasha?"  
  
"Didn't you see me use the mop? Hey, Kagome, I used the mop correctly, right?"  
  
"Yes, Inuyasha you did. And you held the bucket so nicely, too." Is he going to be proud of that for the rest of his life?, Kagome had to ask herself.  
  
Her sarcasm was lost on everybody, as they all looked at Inuyasha in awe, as if he were the prophet Isaiah. Inuyasha continued his rounds, coaching his classmates.  
  
"Hey," Yura suddenly cried out. "This is just like that Broadway musical, 'Annie', remember, we analyzed it last year?" Some people murmured faint recollections.  
  
"The orphans were cleaning the stairs just like this," Kohaku summed up, "but they were singing."  
  
"Of course they were singing, if it was a musical," Sango said, rolling her eyes. "It's too bad Chopin isn't here to take the prime opportunity into account."  
  
"Hey, hold on," Yura commanded, leaving her post. She ran about the staircases, arranging people. She made some get down on their knees, and some stand with a mop, and others hold buckets. "This is the exact layout of that scene," she stated triumphantly. Being a theatre buff, Yura was the only one among them who could remember such an odd thing. "Now all we have to do is sing and it would be perfect!" Her eyes shined, begging everyone to go along with her idea.  
  
Sango felt slightly ill. She thought she had escaped singing.  
  
"Come on everyone, I can demonstrate the dance moves, too," she continued. Miroku instantly saddled up next to her, ready to be the assiduous pupil. Sango gritted her teeth at this. Yura sang softly, to get the beat, and scrubbed at the stairs with her rag. At certain intervals, she would dip the rag into the bucket and scrub in a different place. She got up and flipped masterfully over the banister, Miroku's eyes never leaving her form. Sango frowned.  
  
"Okay, it's that simply people," she instructed. "The song is 'the hard knock life', ok? I'll sing and you guys join me when you remember the words."  
  
She grabbed her rag. "It's the hard knock life for us, it's the hard knock life for us,"  
  
Kagome had to smile; it was sort of cute to see Yura so devoted to something that was neither sluttish nor maniacal. Miroku was the first to sing along side her, happily sloshing his rag around. He then grabbed Kouga's mop and pretended to use it as an air guitar. The underclassmen started laughing and joining in. Kagome started to scrub and sing in her position at the very top of the stairs. Inuyasha went through the motions of scrubbing, trying to remember a part he had liked in this play. Oh yeah, he grinned. He picked up a bucket full of murky water and made his way down the stairs, keeping to the beat as if it were part of the song number. And it was, technically.  
  
Now, who to choose? So many options, he thought sadly, and not enough water. Suddenly, Sesshoumaru and Kouga lined up. Perfect, Inuyasha thought. He heaved the bucket of water, drenching Kouga and only mildly splashing Sesshoumaru.  
  
Kouga sputtered, and looked completely shocked. "What the hell was that for?" he yelled.  
  
"Just part of the song," Inuyasha said innocently. "Sorry there wasn't enough for you too, Sess," he addressed his brother, who in turn regarded him coldly, although did not make any sudden moves to break his younger brother's neck.  
  
"That was perfect, Inuyasha," Yura squealed, applauding him. Kouga growled and Inuyasha turned to run and hide behind Kagome who was helplessly laughing.  
  
Not a bad idea, Sango thought, as she attempted to reach Miroku and deliver the same treatment. Or hitting over the head with a mop would do. Or one of those larger, electric mops, or whatever, she figured.  
  
Someone's yelling stopped all their fun. "Um, excuse me? Everyone your bus is here to bring you back to school." The employee surveyed the sopping wet mess the students had created. "Thanks for all your help, er, we all really appreciate it."  
  
The students murmured their goodbyes to the attendants and children as they filed out, Kouga wringing out his ponytail.  
  
  
  
The bus ride back was uneventful and quiet, as if everyone suddenly realized how tired they had become. Kagome observed Inuyasha's head, which had fallen onto her shoulder as the bus lulled him into a light sleep. She didn't know everyone very well yet, but she felt as if this was one of the first moments when everyone had been at peace with each other.  
  
I think they really enjoyed each other's company, for the first time, Kagome thought. She smiled, somehow comforted that Aureate Winters had become her school as well.  
  
  
  
  
  
Endnotes: That was kind of hard to write! Let me know what you think! Also, what do you guys think of Kagura/Sesshoumaru or Kouga/Kagura? What's everybody's favorite parings, anyway?  
  
CHALLENGE: Does anybody have any inkling as to what kind of work Naraku does?  
  
Please review! This chapter was certainly a challenge for me to write, so I would love to hear your comments. Thanks! 


	10. The Disaster after Midterms

Playgrounds of the Mind  
  
Chapter Ten: The Disaster after Midterms  
  
[Disclaimer: Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi]  
  
Challenge Answer: Yes, Naraku is a mobster/drug lord/kingpin of sorts. If it's illegal, he does it, although he's discreet and careful, and nobody can seem to arrest him. But maybe that will change . . thanks to those who guessed!  
  
Author's Notes: Sorry for the slight delay! I have been given some good advice by a dear friend to make the chapters shorter but to update more often. So I'll give it a try, please let me know what you think!  
  
  
  
  
  
Kagome and some various classmates sat around in the library, moaning and sighing and cursing. It was already midterm week, and everybody had their personal bane. Kagome was struggling with math; Sango with Psychology; Miroku seemed to be equally confused in all his subjects. Inuyasha actually seemed the least frazzled. He looked tired but not stressed. Kagome eyed him enviously, wondering how he did it. She looked to her notes: "the expected process will equal the actual process when the equilibrium stochastic principles are filled." Kagome stared at the sentence in utter confusion. What was this even about? She shook her head; clearly an element of chance only promised greater trouble, not less. Why hadn't she paid more attention to regression analysis back at her old school?  
  
Kagome looked over to where Sango was beating her head against her Psychology textbook.  
  
"Er, Sango, what's wrong?"  
  
"I can't get that damn song out of my head!" She wailed, pulling on her hair. Kagome could not remember what she was talking about, but figured it was not completely class-related.  
  
Inuyasha suddenly closed the Organic Chemistry book he had open and rose from his seat. "I think I'll grab an early dinner and finish preparing in my room." He gave a short nod to everyone and departed. Miroku scrabbled up and ran after him.  
  
"Wait, Inuyasha! I need your help with something!" In his haste to follow his friend, he left his bracelets behind. Sango rolled her eyes and scooped them up, placing them in a neat pile next to her desk.  
  
"I'll return them to the dolt later," she murmured, turning back to her notes.  
  
"Ah, Sango, tell me when this will all be over?" Kagome pleaded.  
  
"Well, midterms will be over next week, school will be over next year, and the suffering will never be over."  
  
"That was rhetorical, but thanks." Kagome sighed.  
  
Sango looked at her sympathetically. "You know, after midterm week, we have a festival week, where there's a talent competition, races, some fun two day elective courses, like cooking or jewelry making, and lots of field trips and community service projects. It's Aureate Winter's way of rewarding their students. It will really let you unwind before the second half of the semester picks up."  
  
"Wow, that sounds like fun." Kagome smiled weakly. "Hopefully I can survive this week first, though!"  
  
"Don't worry, with the lack of sleep and food, it'll go by in no time!"  
  
  
  
And it was as Sango predicted; Kagome did not even realize when the week was over. After finishing her last exam, she fell dead asleep in her room, and when she finally woke, she felt much better. She and Sango munched on some snacks while the two girls looked over the festivities available to partake in over the next week.  
  
"Oo," Sango squealed, "look, there's going to be a bachelor auction for charity tomorrow!"  
  
Kagome perked up. "Who's participating?"  
  
Sango scanned the brochure. "Well, since this is a relatively small school, it looks like the administration has asked all the boys from our school to participate. There's also a bunch of guys from other private schools in the area."  
  
"So by 'asked' them really mean 'forced', eh?" Kagome giggled.  
  
"Yeah, and I can think of someone who's going to love this, and someone who's going to hate it! Three guesses who those two are."  
  
Kagome looked puzzled. "Well, Miroku definitely would love it, but do you mean Inuyasha is the other?" She looked slightly downcast, "I thought he liked charity work-I mean, he was great with those kids, even if he didn't know what he was doing."  
  
"It's just that he doesn't like being fawned over by a bunch of girls like a piece of meat," Sango responded. "I'm sure if you bid on him, he wouldn't mind so much," she teased.  
  
Kagome pretended to be offended. "What ever can you mean, Ms. Davis? I am a proper young woman." She dissolved into giggles. "But, point taken. I'll bring my checkbook."  
  
"And your trust fund, too," Sango said. "You're going to have some very stiff competition.  
  
Uh, oh, Kagome thought, gulping.  
  
  
  
  
  
The next day, all the boys of Aureate Winters were being fussed over by volunteers at the charity auction house. It was really a stage converted for the evening. Colorful banners and streamers had been placed in the hall.  
  
Inuyasha was sulking, just barely allowing a young girl to brush out his hair. She kept chattering about how beautiful it was. Nearby, Miroku was similarly being preened, except he was vastly enjoying it, flirting with his volunteer and making her flush. He kept winking at Inuyasha. Inuyasha, in turn, ignored him. He hoped against hope that Sango would bid on him so that he didn't end up in some mad woman's clutches. Sesshoumaru, who had been through this type of thing before, had warned Inuyasha in a rare moment of brotherly advice, about the perils a West faced when being auctioned off at an event. 'Remember, Inuyasha, every girl is after you for your money and title.' Inuyasha recalled his words. 'If you have a friend you can trust, just pay her to bid on you, before it's too late.' Inuyasha would have asked him exactly what he meant by that, but Sesshoumaru had been dragged off to be primed and brushed and god knows what else.  
  
If my own brother, who doesn't fear anything is warning me, it can't be good, Inuyasha reasoned. He had tried to find Sango before the auction, but to no avail. He only hoped she took pity on him. Or Kagome, maybe . . he shook his head. No need in getting hopeful only to be disappointed later, he sighed.  
  
Once the girl had finished he walked over to the heavy curtains and peaked out. He gulped; there were hundreds of girls out there, all of the snobby, stuck-up variety, no doubt.  
  
"What's wrong, half-demon? Afraid you won't be bid on?"  
  
Inuyasha snorted and regarded Kouga with a cold stare. "Are you sure that's not for you to worry about, wimpy Wolfgang?"  
  
Kouga huffed and leaned against the wall, letting his shiny black hair fall to frame his face, having been taken out of his usual ponytail. His blue eyes glittered. "I believe Kagome is going to be bidding on me, so I'm covered," he stated.  
  
Inuyasha's heartbeat picked up as he tried to control his temper. "What? Kagome bidding on you? Don't make me laugh!"  
  
"It's true-she's my girl, after all."  
  
"Since when is she yours?"  
  
"Since our date, dumbass."  
  
"You call that a date? Getting wine dumped over your head and having the girl leave with someone else? Actually, for you that's probably a pretty good date."  
  
Kouga glared daggers. "She was playing hard to get, but she really wants me."  
  
Inuyasha was about to respond when Miroku walked over. "Hey guys," he greeted. He only got chilly silence in response.  
  
"Everyone, positions please! The auction is about to start!" A stringent voice called out. The boys separated, going their own ways, still glaring.  
  
"What was that all about?" Miroku questioned. Inuyasha just shook his head, not wanting to even think about Kouga's stupidity.  
  
  
  
In the audience, Kagome and Sango managed to find seats together. Plopping down, Sango pealed off some layers of clothing, removing her suede jacket and scarf. Kagome also made herself more comfortable.  
  
"It's a full house," she gasped, struggling to keep all her outer garments in her lap.  
  
"Yeah, looks like some of the alumni came as well," Sango agreed, looking around. "Hey," she yelled out suddenly, "there's my dad up in front, sitting next to Miroku's mom. I didn't know either one of them would be here." She looked slightly confused after her initial cry.  
  
"They seem to be really enjoying each other's company," Kagome noted, observing the two adults laugh and carry on.  
  
"Yeah, they're probably exchanging really embarrassing stories about Miroku and I when we were little." But Sango seemed perplexed.  
  
The room began to fall silent. "Looks like it's starting," Kagome whispered to her friend.  
  
The coordinator of the auction came out and said a few words. He introduced the schools that would be participating and other information. "Two years ago we raised just about seventy thousand dollars," he beamed, "let's try to beat that tonight!"  
  
Kagome almost fell out of her seat. Seventy thousand? From one night? Maybe it would be better if she did not bid on anyone! She looked around, but no one else seemed phased by the price. She shuddered slightly. These people really had money to burn. Kagome realized that Sango seemed to be more attentive to what her dad and Miroku's mom were up to, instead of the auction. An all boys' Catholic school was the first one featured. There were many bids but Kagome did not pay attention carefully.  
  
When it was their school's turn, Kagome nudged Sango, who looked up momentarily and then back again to her dad.  
  
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, we have the men of Aureate Winters, the famous legend of academia. These young men are la crème de la crème, so let's be generous!" The announcer smiled and began introducing the bachelors. Kagome waited impatiently for when Inuyasha would be introduced. She hoped she could bid, but didn't think she would be able to explain to her mother and grandfather why she spent half her college fund on a date.  
  
She noticed that Yura had bid on Hiten Brenner.  
  
"It's probably just for his hair," Sango whispered. Kagome laughed, glad to see her friend was getting into the spirit.  
  
Kagome watched the next couple of bids, noting one of the boys had been Ken, her over ambitious tour guide. She still was not very familiar with the boys in the school not in her classes.  
  
Then it was Sesshoumaru's turn. He walked out on the stage, looking emotionless and slightly grim. There was a huge flurry of bidders. Kagome and Sango exchanged a glance and laughed. The famous demon prince was quite a catch to be caught. The bids grew higher and higher until only a few bidders were left. One was sitting a few rows in front of Kagome and Sango. Kagome strained to see her, but the girl was slightly short. Where have I seen that side ponytail hairstyle? Kagome wondered.  
  
"Is that Rin?" Sango questioned. Kagome stood up a bit.  
  
"I think you're right, Sango." Kagome smiled. She had become fond of the younger classmate over the last few weeks, but she never realized Rin was so enamored of Sesshoumaru.  
  
Finally, Rin won the highest bid. Sesshoumaru seemed a bit shocked, although it was hard to tell. He nodded politely to Rin and walked off stage. Miroku was the next one called.  
  
Kagome leaned in. "Are you going to bid?"  
  
Sango looked mischievous, "Well, I could just let him happily go on a date with no doubt some cute girl from another school, but I think I might just step in at the last moment and bid myself, and make Miroku clean my room on our date!" She laughed and Kagome smiled knowingly. Maybe Sango was just pretending to bid on Miroku so she could complicate his life, but Kagome knew it was because she didn't want anyone else to have him. Maybe more will come out of their date then just cleaning, Kagome smirked to herself.  
  
A very nice-looking girl with long blonde hair was just about to make the final bid when Sango stepped in just like she planned. Miroku seemed disappointed, then seemed happy when he realized it was Sango. Catching the look she had sent him, he seemed downcast again. Kagome could not help herself. She began teasing Sango relentlessly.  
  
"Oh, Sango, I'm so glad to see you and your true love together at last!"  
  
"Kagome!"  
  
"Can I be one of your bridesmaids?"  
  
Sango growled and bopped Kagome on the head with her bidding paddle. Kagome laughed and bonked her back. The two were completely lost to the current bid going on around them. To get the upper hand, Kagome stood up and raised her paddle.  
  
"Thank you number 28!" the announcer boomed. "I'm sure you and Mr. Wolfgang-Puck will have a lovely time!"  
  
Kagome froze and turned to face the stage. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, and all noise seemed to become muffled to her ears. She saw Sango's look of horror; Kouga's impertinent grin, and worst of all two cold golden eyes meeting hers, spelling out betrayal.  
  
And Kagome did indeed feel like a traitor. Her heart sank painfully.  
  
  
  
  
  
Author's endnotes: Uh oh, a cliffhanger! Will Inuyasha massacre Kouga right there on the stage? What will Kagome do? Will anyone bid on the freshmen? And this is only the first day of the crazy festival week!  
  
Next Challenge: What movie does this chapter's title remind you of?  
  
Please review everyone and let me know what you think! 


	11. Dates

Playgrounds of the Mind  
Chapter Eleven: Dates  
Challenge Answer: "The Disaster After Midterms" I though was reminiscent of the "The Nightmare after Christmas". It sounded cute to me. ^_^  
Author's Notes: Sorry! I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update! I know there are several people out there waiting and waiting, so this is dedicated to all of you! ^_^ But, if anyone is interested, you can always read my other, completed fanfic, "Inuyasha's Day Off". It's a one-shot, although it has three acts. Please review and let me know if you liked it-it features the same characters from "Playgrounds of the Mind".  
Kagome felt weak; she faintly heard Sango by her side, shaking her by the elbow. Kagome was hypnotized by those golden eyes, which bore into hers relentlessly. The stare seemed to go on for hours, yet he never blinked. She tried to get the attention of the auctioneer, but to no avail. Inuyasha finally tore his gaze from hers and tried to march onto the stage when he was roughly held back by some of his classmates. Knocking them to the floor, Inuyasha stomped his way over to Kouga, pledging to send him into orbit when the clueless auctioneer stepped in. Clasping Kouga and Inuyasha around the shoulders, he smiled widely at the audience.  
  
"Well ladies and gentlemen, it appears out next handsome bachelor is anxious to take the stage, so why don't we bid," he grinned at his own lame pun, "Mr. Wolfgang-Puck adieu and wish him well on his date. And now, allow me to introduce the younger Mr. West, Inuyasha."  
  
Kouga gave Inuyasha the raspberry while Inuyasha tried to claw him to death. Miroku ran over to the side of the stage and desperately tried to yank Kouga off the stage before it became bathed in blood. Kouga was safely tucked away, but Inuyasha had a look that promised retribution.  
  
Meanwhile, Kagome had her own problems. The entire time Kouga was being auctioned a young red-haired girl was awaiting her chance to give the winning bid--until Kagome had unwittingly beat her to it. Now this particular redhead was glowering in Sango and Kagome's direction. Getting up from her seat so quickly she threw it backwards, she angrily stomped over to where Kagome was slouching in her seat, defeated, Sango trying to comfort her.  
  
Kagome looked up wearily as a shadow fell over her. Meeting incensed turquoise eyes, a fierce frown and tightly folded arms over an expensive fur jacket, Kagome noticed the beautiful and apparently live lavender iris in the girl's hair first. She was about to comment about it when the mysterious girl spoke.  
  
"You think you're pretty smart, don't you?" She spat.  
  
"What?" Kagome managed, flustered. First Kouga, now this.  
  
"Hey," Sango said warningly, "what's your problem?"  
  
"Her betting on MY Kouga, is my problem," she responded, glaring down at Kagome who was still swaying unsteadily in her seat.  
  
"Well, she didn't even want to bet on that jerk, so that's her problem," Sango leveled, getting up to tower slightly above the girl.  
  
"Oh really?" she inquired, raising a delicate eyebrow, "who did she mean to bid on?"  
  
"None of your-" Sango was cut off by Kagome's sudden yell.  
  
"INUYASHA!"  
  
The three girls blinked several times as a strange silence fell over their immediate area. This didn't stop the auctioneer, since he was still in the process of introducing Inuyasha to the audience. "Yes, yes, this is Inuyasha West," he said complacently. Inuyasha was peering into the audience, trying to figure out who had yelled-Kagome's voice had been so hoarse, he hadn't even recognized her.  
  
"Uh, Kagome? Are you okay?" Sango whispered.  
  
"Inuyasha, damn it, Inuyasha! How many times do I have to keep saying it? I wanted to bid on INUYASHA! I told you, I told her, I told EVERYBODY!"  
  
"Whoa, take it easy!" Sango desperately tired to shush her friend.  
  
The newcomer narrowed her eyes devilishly. "Oh, so it's that boy on auction now that you wanted, huh? Well, since you bid on my Kouga, I'll simply bid on your precious Inuyasha!" Without another word, she stood up on the empty chair next to Kagome's and lifted her paddle into the air.  
  
"Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars!"  
  
A deathly silence fell over the room. Outside, in the fading summer days, the last few notes of crickets could be heard through the heavy glass.  
  
Kagome fell out of her chair, her paddle smacking her in the forehead on its way down to join her.  
  
Inuyasha stood still and tried to comprehend what was going on.  
  
The auctioneer cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Um, Ms. number 43, was that two-fifty thousand?"  
  
"Oh, yeah", the girl nodded emphatically.  
  
"Well, that's very generous! Thank you very much, Ms. Calais!" He looked down at a clipboard to identify the girl's name by her paddle number.  
  
"Ayame Calais?" Sango wondered aloud.  
  
Kagome stirred on the floor and groaned a bit. "College fund," she muttered, barely audible.  
  
"What was that, Kagome?" Sango kneeled down in concern.  
  
Ayame grinned in sheer jubilance and jumped down from her chair. She looked down at Kagome with satisfaction and marched off.  
  
Up on stage, Inuyasha was peering into the audience, trying to figure out where Kagome went. He finally stepped off the stage and joined the bid-on bachelors waiting for their dates.  
  
"Hey, Man, nice going!" Miroku walked over, clapping his friend on the shoulder. A bunch of other guys also whistled and congratulated him. Inuyasha ignored all of them and made his way over to Kouga, who was grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"Well, Inuyasha, it looks like some poor, delusional, idiotic girl bid on you after all."  
  
"Better than a pity bid."  
  
"Oh is that what you think?"  
  
Inuyasha smirked, although inside he had no idea why Kagome did such a thing.  
  
Kouga shook his head. "Two-fifty thousand-overpriced if you ask me."  
  
Inuyasha lunged at him, fist raised, but Miroku held him back. Kouga stepped back and laughed. "Really, Inuyasha, is that any way for a man of Aureate Winters to act?"  
  
"I don't know, is it?" Inuyasha shot back.  
  
The other boys shifted uneasily as the temperature seemed to drop.  
Kagome was finally sitting back in her chair, with Sango fanning her lightly with her paddle.  
  
"Who's Ayame Calais?" she weakly asked.  
  
Sango sighed. "She's just the local debutante who thinks she's the fashion police and social director of Manhattan. Oh, and her family has been really close to Kouga's since forever. You know, holding and trust companies, and what not."  
  
"I take it she likes Kouga, then?"  
  
"I guess so," Sango returned, looking at the stage, "I've never really had a conversation with her or anything," she finished with a look of slight disgust. "I mean, really, who has to wear fur everywhere she goes? And she . ." Sango droned on and on.  
  
Kagome had slouched in her seat, trying to forget she ever came to this school. These people are driving me crazy, she mentally groaned, I won't be going to college after I graduate, I'll be going to a mental institution. She let her chin fall onto her chest and tried to think some way out of going with Kouga. Her only reward was a headache.  
  
Kagome felt Sango tugging on her arm. Looking up, she realized people were leaving the auditorium; the auction was over. Getting to her feet, Kagome leaned somewhat on Sango as the two classmates made their way over to where they were supposed to pay for their dates.  
  
"Sango, if I don't make it, you'll send my body home to be buried, won't you?"  
  
"Kagome, what are you talking about?"  
  
Kouga sauntered over, his polo sweater thrown over one shoulder nonchalantly. "Kagome, I just wanted you to know, I paid the bid myself. I would never allow a beautiful young woman to pay for a date." He smiled a cocky grin as he switched his sweater to his other shoulder.  
  
Kagome was so ecstatic she couldn't breathe properly. "Oh, thank you Kouga!" She squealed, launching herself at him. She didn't even realize what she was doing. When she finally opened her eyes, she was greeted with two glares-Ayame's and Inuyasha's.  
  
Seeing Kagome look over at her, Ayame made a grab for Inuyasha's arm, and rested her head on his shoulder, batting her eyelashes. Inuyasha didn't even notice; his gaze was centered on the back of Kouga's head, as if to bore holes through it. Kagome searched for Sango to help her, but she had apparently already skipped out with Miroku.  
  
Kagome quickly jumped back. "Uh, sorry," she managed, trying not to look directly at Kouga, Ayame, or Inuyasha.  
  
Kouga then turned around. Seeing Inuyasha, he grinned maliciously. "That didn't seem to be out of pity, eh?" he questioned the pale blonde, who growled threateningly.  
  
"Kagome, I need to speak with you," Inuyasha almost barked.  
  
"Um, yeah, sure," Kagome quickly agreed. Kouga seemed irritated by this turn of events.  
  
"Oh, and Kouga, I need to speak with you," Ayame crooned, although she didn't seem all that pleased.  
  
"Eh? Ayame, is that you?" Kouga finally took a good look at the girl attached to his rival. He paled considerably.  
  
"Well, isn't this opportune? Since Inuyasha has to talk to what's-her- name, and I need to talk to you, we should just switch dates." Ayame complacently said.  
  
"Good idea," Inuyasha and Kagome spoke in unison. Kouga was at a loss for words, and kept swiveling his head about, looking at Kagome is shock, then at Inuyasha with distaste, finally at Ayame with some trepidation. "Uh, I don't really want to," he stated flatly.  
  
"Nobody asked you," the three others replied simultaneously again. Kouga was shocked at the turn of events. How had he lost control?  
  
Ayame grabbed Kouga by the arm before he could protest and dragged him away. Kagome and Inuyasha regarded each other uneasily for a few moments.  
  
"Um, maybe we can go somewhere to talk? Like my room?" Kagome quietly asked. Inuyasha curtly nodded, and they went off to the girl's dorm.  
"Harder, Miroku!"  
  
"I'm trying, Sango, but I don't think it can get much better than this."  
  
"Oh yes it can, just do it harder."  
  
Miroku bent over even more, trying to reach the end of the bottom of the doorframe. "Sango, I don't see why this has to be done."  
  
"Because I want the entire place to sparkle and be clean," she replied, walking about the room, running a white-gloved hand over random furniture, testing it for dust.  
  
"But no one can even see the bottom of the door, Sango!" Miroku tried to reason.  
  
"That's not the point, slave-I mean, Miroku," Sango corrected herself, trying to keep a smile of glee off her face. The slave sighed and went back to scrubbing.  
"Do you like it?" Rin questioned.  
  
Sesshoumaru observed the room he was in. It was oval in shape, and expansive, and a large black grand piano sat in the middle. A swank divan sat nearby, with a side table with some kind of liquid and glasses. "It has taste," he replied.  
  
"Please, take a seat." Sesshoumaru relaxed on the divan, throwing one arm over the back and regarding her.  
  
"I wanted to thank you, for earlier, in the library. And to apologize," Rin spoke softly. "So I thought I would play a private concert for you." She smiled and walked over to the piano bench and took a seat. "Any requests?"  
  
Sesshoumaru seemed surprised, although it didn't show. "You choose first," he stated.  
  
She began to play Mozart's concerto 40. Sesshoumaru observed her quiet grace, her careful demeanor, and her elegant fingers move over the keys, silently, yet surely. She's rather good, he mused, becoming enthralled by her playing.  
Kagome sat opposite a stoic Inuyasha. "I just wanted to say-"  
  
"Why did you bid on that jerk?" Inuyasha interrupted.  
  
Kagome sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. "I didn't mean to it-"  
  
"And I suppose you didn't mean to sit in his box at the match, either?"  
  
Kagome sighed heavily. "No. I didn't know, and besides-"  
  
"Kagome, I just don't want you to make the wrong . . choices." Inuyasha finished, rather lost in thought. "Making the wrong choices here can be fatal."  
  
Kagome walked over to him, trying to make him hear her out. But he jumped up and backed away.  
  
"Forget this! If you want to pursue that jackass, go ahead! I won't save you!"  
  
"Inuyasha please!"  
  
He sighed heavily, vacillating between being angry and hurt. "I think I'll go now," he declared, opening her door.  
  
"Inuyasha, I wanted to bid on-"  
  
"I said forget it!" He yelled back from the hall, rapidly making an exit.  
  
"-you," Kagome finished in a whisper. She felt like lead. She walked stiffly to her bed and lay down carefully, as if she were made of glass.  
  
How can one person make me feel so many tumultuous things inside? She wondered, drifting off into a dreamless sleep.  
Author's Note: Well, the dates are over! Looks like dating in this school is tiring work! Please review and give me some comments, so I know where to take this story.  
  
No challenge this time, just review! It's been a while, so I'd appreciate some feedback. 


	12. Zoological Mayhem

Playgrounds of the Mind  
  
Chapter Twelve: Zoological Mayhem  
  
Kagome stirred uneasily as she heard a muffled bang coming from the vicinity of her door. She listened intently for a split second and then buried her head further into her pillow, trying to block out the noise.  
  
"Kagome?" Came Sango's subdued call; the rapping on the door increased.  
  
Groaning, Kagome made her way off the bed and stumbled to the door, opening it only a crack so as to limit the harsh light from the hallway. Not that it mattered, as Sango pushed the door open fully and barged in at full speed.  
  
"Kagome, what's wrong? You look terrible," she stated, matter-of-factly. "I thought I heard Inuyasha yelling last night," she peered into Kagome's face, studying her dark circles. "What did he say this time?"  
  
"Oh Sango, what does it matter? You know, I haven't known Inuyasha as long as you have, but I'm beginning to see a pattern here." She sighed heavily, "Basically, if I make one wrong move, it's as if I've attempted to sabotage him."  
  
"Yeah," Sango agreed, pulling out Kagome's desk chair and plopping down. "He's got some major abandonment issues, but he isn't actually possessive." Sango looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, he's not that possessive," she finally qualified.  
  
"Gee, how reassuring," Kagome muttered, going back to her bed and lying face down on top of the covers.  
  
Sango twirled in the chair and came to a stop regarding the prone figure. "So what'd he say, anyway?"  
  
"Oh, he won't 'save me from Kouga', and, oh yeah, I'm in 'love' with him."  
  
"Inuyasha said you were in love with him?"  
  
"No, he said I was in love with Kouga-or rather, he implied it, in that supercilious, mean way he says half the things he says," Kagome muttered, picking at her bedspread.  
  
"You certainly lead a complicated life, Kagome," Sango smirked. "So, are you going to get up, or do I have to drag you out of there?"  
  
"Huh?" Kagome offered intelligently. "Getting up? Why?"  
  
"Our school's trip is to the zoo today, don't you remember? I read you the entire schedule on Friday."  
  
"Oh, Sango, I can't go anywhere today, I feel so miserable, and I don't want to run into Inuyasha!" She wailed and covered her head with a pillow.  
  
Sango sighed and grabbed one of Kagome's ankles, yanking her half way out of bed. The other girl wailed and clung to the sheets.  
  
"Kagome, you are not going to feel sorry for yourself and sulk!"  
  
"Yes I am."  
  
"Well, I won't let you. Now get up, go take a shower, try to make yourself look presentable, and we'll go enjoy a nice day at the zoo. Look at the furry little creatures."  
  
Kagome didn't budge.  
  
"Besides, Inuyasha isn't going."  
  
"He isn't?" Kagome asked, looking up.  
  
"No, he and Miroku are off doing something else, can't remember what." Sango gave Kagome's ankle another pull. "Now get up-I'm giving you twenty minutes!"  
  
"Alright, I'm going," Kagome staggered to the closet to locate her robe.  
  
Sango tried to suppress a smile as she made her way over to her room.  
  
"I hate the zoo, everything smells," Inuyasha grumbled to Miroku, as he bent down to re-tie his shoes.  
  
"Aw, you always complain about everything, man. What ever happened to your cheery outlook?"  
  
"My what?"  
  
"Never mind. So, how was your 'date' with Kagome? Anything happen that's worth mentioning?" Miroku had an evil glint to his eyes.  
  
"Nothing happened, just drop it." Inuyasha's words were coated in ice. Miroku took note of it and steered off the subject.  
  
"Well, Sango just made me clean her room last night. She would do something like that. Look at this," he gestured to his hands, "I have blisters!"  
  
Inuyasha simply stared and turned away, uninterested. Great, Miroku thought, whenever Inuyasha got into a mood like this, it usually lasted for days. He wondered what had happened between Inuyasha and Kagome to make the former so angry. Maybe he should ask Sango later.  
  
More people gathered as the bus was brought around and parked. The trip seemed to be very popular. Miroku spotted Sango's head in the crowd, and he waved her over. Only Kagome seemed to hold her back.  
  
"You said they weren't coming!" Kagome hissed in Sango's ear.  
  
"Sorry, I guess they changed their minds. Kagome, come on, you can't let your life be dictated by Inuyasha's movements. This is ridiculous-I bet by the time we reach the zoo, he'll come over to you and apologize for being so stupid."  
  
"Really?" Kagome asked hopefully, sneaking a look in Inuyasha's direction.  
  
"Of course," Sango nodded, making a note to somehow get Miroku to force Inuyasha to do such a thing.  
  
A teacher took down names and everyone clambered onto the bus. Seeing Miroku and Inuyasha head to the back of the bus, Sango steered Kagome to a seat near the front; this way, he would be out of sight, and hopefully out of mind. With an internal groan, Sango noticed Kouga getting on. He walked down the aisle and stopped at the two girls' seats.  
  
"Hey Kagome," he smiled, leaning in.  
  
"Er, hi Kouga," she said nervously.  
  
"So, did you and Inuyasha have a nice time?" he asked, almost spiting Inuyasha's name out.  
  
"Uh, yeah."  
  
"Well, since we never had a chance for our date, Kagome, I figured we could spend the day together," he smiled charmingly.  
  
Kagome panicked. "Uh, sorry Kouga, but I promised Sango we'd see the exhibits together."  
  
Sango smiled sweetly at him. "Sorry Wolfgang-Puck."  
  
He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Well, Kagome, maybe we can meet up some time for lunch, instead? Hey, I'll find you, don't worry." And he was off, with a wave.  
  
"Great," Kagome muttered under her breath.  
  
"Don't worry, Kagome, we'll lose him. And if not, I have Ayame's number- I'll just give her a ring and let her know where her precious Kouga is."  
  
Kagome giggled appreciatively. "Thanks Sango. Well, maybe this trip will be fun after all."  
  
Inuyasha sniffed the air and made a face. "It smells, just like I said."  
  
Miroku sighed. "Okay, so what do you want to see first?" He pulled a zoo map out of his pocket and studied it. After a few moments he turned the map upside down and looked some more. Giving up, he shoved the map back and tugged on Inuyasha's sleeve. "Let's just walk down this way." Inuyasha shrugged and followed.  
  
Meanwhile, Kagome and Sango were desperately trying to put as much distance between themselves and the bus, so that Kouga would have a harder time 'finding' them, as he had promised. Stopping to catch their breath, the girls noticed the penguin house and decided to go in.  
  
"Aw, they're so cute," Kagome crooned, wiggling her pinky at the baby penguins. Sango smiled, glad to see that the other girl's mood had improved. Although she knew what she had to do.  
  
"Kagome," she started, and stopped.  
  
"Yes, Sango?" Kagome asked, looking over at her, her head at a quizzical angle.  
  
"We need to have a talk. Come on, let's take a walk."  
  
Miroku was snapping pictures of some grazing giraffes, while Inuyasha did what he did best: sulked, and kicked the sidewalk.  
  
"Can't we go already?" he whined. "We've been here for ten minutes!"  
  
Miroku regarded him coolly. "Sango happens to like giraffes, so I'm taking some photos for her room." He grinned suddenly. "Hey, you could take some for Kagome-I'll bet she'll forgive you for whatever you said last night."  
  
"WHAT?" Inuyasha barked. "I did not say anything wrong! She's the one who's all over Kouga, so I just don't care anymore."  
  
Miroku rolled his eyes, "yeah, it's so obvious how over her you are."  
  
"I was never 'in' to her to begin with."  
  
"Oh, that's just a lie! Really, Inuyasha, no girl is ever going to willingly accept your jealous streak." He ducked just in time to miss being hit.  
  
"I am not jealous! I'm just . . ." he trailed off.  
  
"Exactly. Let's review, shall we? Kagome sat in Kouga's box by accident-- "  
  
"Or so she claims."  
  
Miroku squeezed his eyes together in pain. "Inuyasha, I doubt she's ever been to a kendo match before that, she didn't know."  
  
"Fine," Inuyasha muttered.  
  
"Next, Kagome accidentally bids on Kouga in the auction." Miroku stopped and contemplated that statement. "Wow, she sure is accident prone."  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "You forgot, she went to dinner with him."  
  
"Yeah, and you forgot she dumped wine over his head and went home with you."  
  
Inuyasha grinned at this. "That was funny."  
  
"Look, man, I've been your friend for a long time, and I've never seen you act this way, so you must really like her. And I'm happy for you-now we can all double date." He smiled wistfully, thinking of Sango.  
  
Inuyasha cocked an eye at him. "So this is going to be the year, huh? It's about time, I've known you've had a crush on that girl since day one."  
  
The two friends stood there for a moment, looking like two love-struck idiots. Finally Miroku came to his senses. "Alright, so will you just go to Kagome and say you're sorry? It won't hurt, you know."  
  
"Okay, okay, I'll do it," the blonde sighed dramatically.  
  
"In that case, let's head to the gift shop. You can buy Kagome a stuffed Koala or something."  
  
Sango and Kagome walked along quietly for a few moments. Kagome kept looking over at her friend, wondering what all this was about.  
  
Sango stopped at a bench and sat down. Kagome joined her, looking at her face intently.  
  
"Kagome, how do you feel about Inuyasha? I mean, besides being angry or mystified, after all, all guys make us feel that way, I mean before? In the beginning, when you first met him?"  
  
Kagome bit her lip and stared at her boots. "Maybe you'll think I'm crazy, but I liked him a lot when I first met him. And, well, I still do." Kagome looked at Sango and took a deep breath. "So I know you want to talk me out of it, but--"  
  
"No way, Kagome! I mean, I think you guys would be really great together." Sango beamed at her. "So, now, all I have to do is give you a little warning-Inuyasha is going to do something like this again. God, maybe even more times than I'd like to imagine. But," she reached over and pressed Kagome's hand, "you know he only does it because he cares." Kagome felt warmth spread through her body at those words. "Plus, he hates Kouga," Sango added helpfully. Kagome burst out laughing.  
  
"I know, Sango. The minute I laid eyes on him I knew he'd be trouble. But I've lived a straight-laced life, so it's time for me to get into some trouble," she stated as she stood up and dragged Sango down the street. "So, what do you say we go find that moron?"  
  
After walking in circles Inuyasha and Miroku finally found the gift shop.  
  
"You have no sense of direction! That's the last time we follow your lead," Inuyasha grumbled, walking up and down the shelves, looking for something appropriate.  
  
"Like you could do better. Besides, it's a faulty map."  
  
"Don't blame your insufficiencies on the map," Inuyasha snapped back, and halted suddenly. Miroku slammed into him.  
  
"Ow," he rubbed his nose, "what--"  
  
Inuyasha yanked him behind a shelf. Up at the register, Kouga was buying exotic flowers.  
  
"Are these for someone special?" The salesgirl asked, in a flirtatious manner.  
  
"Yep," Kouga puffed out his chest. "I'm going to meet up with her later, so I thought I'd surprise her while I was at it."  
  
Inuyasha gripped Miroku's arm, causing the boy to whimper slightly. As Kouga left the store, Inuyasha tore after him, almost blowing the door off its hinges. Miroku could barely get out the doorway before Inuyasha reached Kouga.  
  
"Kouga!"  
  
He turned and regarded his classmates with a smirk. "Well, Inuyasha, as wonderful as it is to see your face outside of class, I'm late for my date."  
  
Oh god, Miroku's mind raced, he said the 'D' word.  
  
"You? A date?"  
  
"Yes, since you so rudely monopolized my time with Kagome yesterday, we're making it up today." Kouga sneered at Inuyasha, "you know she looked so tired, I don't think she had such a good time last night."  
  
Inuyasha growled and advanced. "You bastard, if she looks tired, it's only because she's sick of you pestering her every damn second!"  
  
While the boys argued, Kouga had begun walking and Inuyasha and Miroku followed. All three of them stopped near a fence.  
  
Kouga glared balefully. He extended his index finger and pointed right at Inuyasha's nose. "Listen, you--" Suddenly he was jerked from behind and almost fell. Turning around Kouga was face to face with a goat that was busily munching on the flowers he had bought. "Hey," he protested, pulling at the bouquet.  
  
Inuyasha was howling with laughter, almost rolling on the ground. Gasping for breath, he stood up. "Your date really likes the flowers, Kouga. I think she's a keeper!"  
  
"She's a perfect match for you," Miroku joined in. The two friends laughed some more.  
  
"Shut up!" Kouga commanded, urgently pulling at the flowers. The goat bleated and pulled as well. Caught off guard, Kouga fell right over the fence and into the pen.  
  
Inuyasha grabbed Miroku's camera and began snapping away. "Now this is a photo op for Kagome's room! Did you hear that, Kouga? This is the only picture Kagome will ever have of you, with your goat!"  
  
Kouga leapt over the fence, and Inuyasha pocketed the camera and took off running. Miroku followed, and shortly, so did the goat.  
  
"Is he answering?" Kagome asked, licking her chocolate cone.  
  
"Nope," Sango replied, trying to redial on her cell phone while not dropping her ice cream. "I wonder where Miroku is? I'll try Inuyasha's next."  
  
But she never had to because three large figures and a smaller one rushed around the corner and down the street.  
  
Kagome blinked. "Was that Miroku and Inuyasha?"  
  
Sango stared back at her. "Was that a goat?"  
  
"Oh my god, I have to see this," Kagome squealed, as she started jogging in the direction the boys had gone.  
  
"I'll be with you in a second, Kagome," Sango yelled, "I've just got to make a quick phone call. Kagome waved and ran down the path. Sango waited patiently for the ringing to stop. "Hello, Ayame?"  
  
Inuyasha made a mistake and took a wrong turn and ended up in a dead end. He stopped and waited as Kouga and Miroku caught up.  
  
"Hey Inuyasha, what's up?"  
  
Inuyasha looked to the side, spotting an underclassman. "Shippou? Uh, nothing much."  
  
Shippou was holding a skateboard in one hand and a hotdog in the other. "Oh, are you and Kouga going to fight again?"  
  
"Looks that way, kid."  
  
Kouga arrived first, stomping his foot and pointing at Inuyasha. "Alright jackass, let's finish this once and for all, and then I have to find Kagome."  
  
Inuyasha laughed and pushed up his sleeves. "Of course, Kouga, I wouldn't want you to keep the goat waiting."  
  
"I said Kagome!"  
  
"What's that? You've named the goat Kagome? Gee, I don't think she'd like that."  
  
"What goat?" Shippou asked, confused.  
  
"Get the hell out of here, freshman," Kouga spat.  
  
"Oh, that goat." Shippou nodded.  
  
"What?" Kouga spun around to see Miroku walking over, with the goat a few paces behind.  
  
"Hey, why's that thing following me?"  
  
"She's jealous, Kouga, you shouldn't ignore her that way," Inuyasha reproached, as Shippou and Miroku laughed. "Hey," he yelled, looking up the path, "there's Kagome now! You can tell her the good news, Kouga."  
  
"Hey Sango! Kagome!" Shippou hollered.  
  
"Kagome, come meet Kouga's--" but Inuyasha never finished his sentence as Kouga lunged at him and clasped his throat in both hands. The two rivals struggled to get the upper hand, although both were pretty winded after running. The chain link fence sagged a bit under their combined weight, and suddenly they were sliding out. Realizing their position, Inuyasha and Kouga tried to grab the fence by the top pole, but it snapped out of place and they soon found themselves tumbling to the ground below.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome shrieked, running over and peering over the side. The others rushed to her side.  
  
Inuyasha and Kouga were stirring, slowly getting up and testing for any injuries.  
  
"Half-demon."  
  
"Wimpy wolf."  
  
"Well, they've exchanged insults, so they can't be too badly hurt," Shippou exclaimed.  
  
"What lives down there, anyway?" Sango asked. "Hey Kagome, move you're leaning on the sign."  
  
Kagome stepped back and a hush fell over the group. The sign read "Siberian Tiger".  
  
"Uh oh," Miroku murmured, turning to Sango. "We should do something. Quickly."  
  
"We'll call the zoo security! They'll know what to do," she said desperately searching for her cell phone.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed, completely freaking out.  
  
The goat bleated, upset at being ignored.  
  
"Do you even know the number?" Shippou asked, more calmly than the others.  
  
"Oh, no, I don't!" Hysteria crept into Sango's voice. Then she spotted Shippou's skateboard. "Shippou, get on that thing and go for help-get the zoo park rangers, or whatever."  
  
"I can't, skating isn't allowed in the park."  
  
Everyone blinked. "Then why do you have it with you?" Miroku ventured.  
  
Shippou rolled his eyes. "Because I didn't know that before I got here."  
  
Sango tugged at her hair. "This is an emergency, just get on it and go for help!"  
  
"I'm not going to break the law! My family owns a law-firm what would people think if I had a record?" Shippou pouted, crossing his arms.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled again.  
  
"Uh, Kagome, that's not helping," Miroku motioned for her to be quiet. "If anything, it might lure the tiger out."  
  
"What??" Inuyasha yelled back. "What the hell is all the commotion about, I said I was fine!"  
  
A low growl suddenly caused everyone to freeze in mid-sentence. Inuyasha and Kouga turned around slowly, meeting the steel glare of a tiger only fifteen feet away.  
  
"Oh, crap," Kouga muttered.  
  
"This is your fault, Kouga," Inuyasha hissed.  
  
Up above, Kagome and Sango were going nuts, running about in little circles, aimlessly trying to come up with a solution. Sango bumped into someone, almost falling down.  
  
"Well, where is he? I don't see Kouga anywhere," Ayame demanded, glaring at Sango. Then she noticed Kagome and glared even more. She walked over to Miroku. "Where is he?"  
  
Miroku looked at Sango and shrugged. He pointed down to the pit. Ayame walked over and peered into the jungle setting and saw the tiger staring the boys down. She backed away, horrified.  
  
"Why isn't anyone doing anything?" She cried out.  
  
"We've been debating what to do," Miroku tried to explain.  
  
"Well, obviously you idiots haven't got a clue, so just step back and let a professional handle this."  
  
Sango raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly makes you an expert in this, Ayame?"  
  
"As a matter of fact, Kouga used to get into all sorts of scrapes as a child, so I learned to pack appropriately for whenever I had a rendezvous with him." Ayame proudly displayed a large picnic basket.  
  
Sango stared at it dubiously. "I don't think chicken salad is the answer."  
  
The goat sniffed the basket and wagged its tail.  
  
Down in the pit, the tiger was watching the boys with evident distaste and annoyance.  
  
"Try not to show any fear," Inuyasha stated, keeping his voice level.  
  
"I'm not," Kouga complained.  
  
"Yes you are, you keep taking a step back."  
  
"I'm getting into a fighting stance, dumbass."  
  
"This isn't kendo, moron!"  
  
Meanwhile, a crowd had gathered around the little group, curious as to what was causing all the commotion. Ayame was remarkably calm, sifting through her basket. She pulled out a rope ladder. Miroku whistled approvingly. "You sure are prepared, Ayame," he noted.  
  
"Will it hold?" Kagome asked worriedly, looking over the edge.  
  
Ayame and Miroku secured the rope ladder as tightly as possible to what remained of the chain fence and lowered it. Fighting was heard below and then the ladder snapped and fell away. Sango grimaced but Ayame seemed calm enough. She walked to her basket and rummaged some more.  
  
"Inuyasha, Kouga, stop fighting!" Sango screamed, "or else neither one of you is ever going to get out of there!" The two classmates were struggling; it appeared they hadn't heard one word. Kagome went back to biting her nails.  
  
"Okay, the ladder's gone, but how about this steak?" Ayame offered the rib eye to Miroku who simply stared at it. "You know, it might distract the tiger while we find another exit."  
  
"Yeah, or it could just whet the tiger's appetite, so that it decides to eat Inuyasha and Kouga that much faster," Shippou answered sarcastically.  
  
Ayame glared at him. "If you have a better idea, I'd like to hear it."  
  
Shippou put his skateboard on the ground and bent down to look through the basket's contents. "Hmm," he mumbled, taking out a bicycle horn, a jar of pate, and superglue.  
  
"What is that going to do?" questioned Kagome.  
  
"We can scare him with the horn, and un, if that doesn't work we can superglue the jar to his forehead so he can't see?" Shippou faltered.  
  
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Ayame countered and reached into the basket.  
  
While the classmates argued and other bystanders stared, the goat walked up to the skateboard and tentatively stood on it, sniffing and licking the surface.  
  
"Alright, I've had enough, steak it is," Ayame declared, grabbing the meat and walking to the edge of the broken fence.  
  
"Let me," Miroku demanded. "I can throw farther."  
  
"Oh yeah? Well it's my steak, and my Kouga, and I'm going to save him!" She elbowed Miroku in the solar plexus and as she arched her arm back, slammed him in the face with the raw meat. Miroku stumbled backwards and fell hard on Shippou's skateboard. As Miroku's end of the skateboard came down, the other end came up, lifting the poor goat into the air and launching it across the fence and into the jungle below.  
  
Kagome gaped in horror as the tiger took off into the thicket. Once the predator had taken its eyes off of the humans, they ran like hell to the opposite side of the enclosure, where together they were able to wrestle open the zookeeper's door and get out of the pit. The students of Aureate Winters rushed around to meet them.  
  
"Oh Kouga!" Ayame cried, throwing herself about his neck, almost strangling him in the process.  
  
"Inuyasha!" Kagome called, rushing over to hug him fiercely.  
  
Suddenly both girls let go. "Ugh, you smell Kouga!" Ayame wrinkled her nose daintily.  
  
Inuyasha sniffed his shirt and grimaced. "Oh gross, Kouga you ass! I do smell, thanks to you! That's it, I'm suing you, I'm suing the zoo, in fact, I'm suing everyone within ten miles of here!"  
  
With that comment, all the bystanders started to scatter. Finally, the gang was alone.  
  
"Oh, that poor goat," Kagome sniffed.  
  
"Yeah, now Kouga will have to find a new girlfriend," Inuyasha snickered.  
  
"What? What do you mean 'new'?" Ayame glared at Kagome. "You're not his girlfriend, are you?"  
  
"NO!" Kagome and Inuyasha simultaneously yelled.  
  
"Well good," Ayame chirped sweetly, "I guess that means you and I can officially start dating now, Kouga." With those words, the socialite dragged him off, crooning in his ear.  
  
Sango shook her head. "Why do I get the impression Kouga would have preferred the tiger to that girl?"  
  
"Well, you know for some it's 'The Lady or the Tiger', but I guess Kouga got both!" Inuyasha crowed, barely able to contain himself. "And he got a goat, too!"  
  
Miroku sighed. At least Inuyasha was in a better mood; there was something to be thankful for.  
  
Challenge: 1) "Is that a goat?"-what line is this movie from? 2) The plot of this chapter is based on an episode from which TV show?  
  
All right, reviewers, give me some feedback. ^_^ 


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